Scar Tissue
by Khalko
Summary: Long time ago in West Blue on a petty island lived a boy who dreamed of leaving to the sea. His wish was granted but not in the way he would have wanted. A take on Crocodile's past from his childhood to the events in Marineford. OCs are both minor and main characters, not for the purpose of pairing them to the canon characters. DoflaCro.
1. Before The Day Turns Into Night

Several days' of rain had stopped on the eastern side of the Kupeat-island. The once so puff clouds shrank and shrank in the sky until sun conquered it embracing the land below. In the small town of Uliami the colors of houses, streets and palm trees were glowing, transforming into lighter shades, including the black hair of the boy. An unusual expression was decorating his face: The eleven year-old Crocodile was smiling.

The child was welcoming the change of weather; he was not allowed to go out to play when the rain clouds were heavy. And this country was not lacking of rain. Well, depending on _where _you lived. This was due to the peculiar plants which all the inhabitants of Kupeat referred to as 'gobblers'. Whoever had first came up with the name had hit the nail on the head: The plants were greedy when it came to moisture and whenever there was rain they would take the most of it. It was an advantage for the plants beside them which took all the fluid pouring from the gobblers that had drank more than they could make use of. This had led to the forming of swamp areas throughout the island. The areas varied from a couple meters to ones the size of a small country. As for the area framing them, the soil was arid and practically nothing grew there. Only when you took enough distance the vegetation started reappearing as the effect of the gobblers didn't reach. Uliami, which streets Crocodile was pacing through, belonged to the dry area.

The boy shifted the strand of a small sack to his shoulder and quickened his steps ignoring the crowd of kids yelling at him. Unfortunately he bumped into one when turning around the corner. When he realized whom he had collided with, his more typical expression was back on its place.

"Croco! You going to the swamps?" the boy's eyes sparkled upon recognition. He quickly collected himself up from the ground, not noting the dust that had collected from the ground. His hair was the same color: pale clay, now with the sun's adjustment almost white.

The golden eyes were uninviting.

"Maybe…"

The sparkling in the younger boy's eyes intensified: "I'm coming too! I read about these really cool bugs that glow in the dark like a lamp! I want to catch them!"

The urge to tell the boy to take a hike was great. Crocodile bit his underlip. Fulo was annoying but Crocodile didn't want to do anything that would upset the boy's baker mother. She always had something little to give to Crocodile when he appeared in front of her door.

"Fine." He groaned.

The boy practically beamed from hearing the approval and rushed to his house yelling Crocodile that he'd get his stuff.

_Great._

Crocodile leaned to the high clay wall behind him. Now he'd have to delay his visit to babysit the dork. Fulo the fool, as he used to curse mentally upon the sight of him. When the boy showed back gripping the straps of a hefty bag, Crocodile started to lead the way kicking a stone here and there out of the road. There could have been much more stones in Crocodile's opinion.

The still cool sand under their feet gradually gave way to a moist ground. Crocodile glimpsed at the others feet.

"What?" Fulo blinked.

"Just made sure you have suitable shoes," the boy explained and halted.

"What now? Why did you stop?"

Crocodile exhaled deeply before explaining his actions yet again:

"We have to tie these shoelaces," Crocodile's few bangs that were not tamed behind to the back of his head shifted forward when he crouched to his shoes.

"But they are tied!" Fulo pointed at his shoes with both of his hands to reinforce his words.

"I know…What I mean is, you have to make sure they are really tight. Make an extra knot."

"But why?"

At this point Crocodile started to weigh if the pastries were really worth the trouble.

"Because if your foot is loose on the inside of the shoe and you bring your foot up from the swamp ground you'll lose your shoe," Crocodile described slowly.

"It gets stuck there because of the under pressure," Crocodile concluded.

"Oh,"Fulo prolonged the vocal, making Crocodile unsure if the boy had caught his explanation. But the younger boy began obediently to tighten his shoelaces so they continued on with their little journey. Crocodile was taking them to a completely different route from what he had been having in mind before the blond had came in to the picture. He had no desire to share his secret with the blond let alone anyone in the village. He wasn't entirely sure himself what the forest hold inside in this direction but the only thing he was focusing on was to keep going as far away from the hideout as possible. He figured that after some wandering Fulo would get bored, tired and hungry and would want to get back home and stuff himself full of cakes.

"So, do you know where we can find them?" the younger boy asked. They had traveled some time now and their conversation had only consisted of the blond's sounds of admiration towards the life surrounding them. The sun was now straight above them, flickering through the hand-sized leaves.

Crocodile's brows furrowed.

_We…_

"They might appear anytime now," Crocodile shrugged. He didn't care if they found those stupid bugs or not. How could they even find them when it was daylight for the next good hours? It sure would have been nice if one would have presented itself, the fool would catch it and they would be on their way, both satisfied.

"Can I try that?" the blond nodded towards the pistol hanging on Crocodile's belt.

The raven-haired placed his right hand over the gun: "No."

Taking the boy along had proven even a bigger nuisance than he had thought. Crocodile had to constantly yell him to keep his hands off of the venomous or carnivorous plants capable of eating birds, or lizards with a skin that gave you a burn if you touched it.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Fulo asked with a look full of genuine admiration.

Crocodile waved his hand dismissively at the boy: "This is basics."

Fulo leaned his head backwards and stretched out the words Crocodile had been waiting for: "Can we go back?" The raven-haired nodded and turned his back to the other.

"Sure," he hummed and mentally bloomed in triumphant. That was, until he heard a snap of the wood. Specifically, the snap of the branch they had been standing on. Crocodile yelped as the only thing under his feet was now thin air and reached out his hand to whatever was in his vision. He got a hold with his left hand from a small branch and grimaced from the momentary friction caused by the speed and his own weight. He tightened his grip fearing that his fingers would slip.

"Help!" A familiar voice snapped his attention back. Crocodile scanned below him, turning his head awkwardly from left to right and found the other boy. The blond hadn't been as lucky and was now wiggling in the moist ground, sinking deeper into it with every movement he made.

"Don't move!" Crocodile cursed and after securing that there was ground below him, let go of the branch. His feet made a rough meeting with the moist but solid ground but Crocodile ignored the sensation when the yells continued.

"I said, don't move!" Crocodile marched, something cracked under one of his steps but he didn't check what. The boy was on the verge of tears when Crocodile reached a hand out to him. He yanked him out easily. Fortune in misfortune: Fulo had managed to drop into a spot that had only a thin layer of the sinking kind. His pants were covered with a greenish color all the way around his knees. But Crocodile noticed that the boy's eyes were still wide with the shock. Crocodile panted and was about to snarl when the boy suddenly claimed with a trembling voice with his eyes locked behind Crocodile's shoulder:

"A bananawani?"

A shiver went through Crocodile and he turned reluctantly. Sure enough, he instantly distinguished a sturdy yellow head with its wide yaw and a banana above its eyes. And the beast looked _very _pissed off as it swam towards them and fast. Crocodile recalled the cracking sound and grimaced when he caught a glimpse of a broken bananawani egg, half of its contents in the sole of his shoe.

_Not good…_

Crocodile tapped his vest but didn't feel the pistol's cold surface.

"Croco, your weapon!" Fulo shouted and pointed at the feet of the tree Crocodile had dropped from. Crocodile shot his eyes to the pistol laying on the ground and was about to make a leap for it when the boy rushed before he even had the time. The bananawani turned its head towards the sudden movement and Crocodile's eyes widened when he comprehended just how big the creature was, concluding from the head peeking above the gloomy water. The blond clumsily fitted the weapon in his hold and began firing at the creature that now slithered on the wet land, flinching from the rare shots that found their target.

"Roll me the gun!" Crocodile growled. The bananawani was only meters away and Fulo's hand circled as he located his aim.

"Do it, you idiot!" The pleading yet furious tone worked and Fulo sent the pistol circling on the ground to Crocodile who grabbed it to his hand. As the bananawani chased Fulo now backing up from it so was Crocodile chasing bananawani's head to the center of his aim. The yellow creature halted and let out a pathetic, high-pitched voice when Crocodile's bullet hit the growth on its head. It kept whimpering and curled up. With no thought of sympathy passing to their minds the boys fled from the scene, leaving the predator to suffer alone its major class head ache.

"Dammit, I got saved by a girl..!" Fulo snapped to himself.

Crocodile restrained himself from pushing the boy to the bog and leaving him to drown.

Roat was cooking up stew for dinner in the hideout. It was a hassle, making food for this amount of people. The bright side was that the bandits were not demanding any high class cuisine. Not that he even could have conjured up something like that from the ingredients. It was usual that he'd come up with something new to try and then looting the cabinets find that they either didn't have the ingredients or that they had molded.

So Roat had given up on honing his chef skills on new areas and pushed root snake stew in the oven for the thousandth time in his life. He peeked through the window at the clear sky and pondered if a certain little boy was on his way already. As he dropped the oven gloves somewhere on the floor, Cordin stepped into the kitchen. The two men nodded at each other and Cordin took the mug Roat offered him, having just filled it with water from the jug.

"The kid reminds me when I was young. He belongs to the sea. You know the way his eyes lit up when I tell those stories?" Cordin smiled after sipping some of the liquid.

Roat leaned on to the doorway, not with all of his weight to prevent it from falling. He wasn't sure if he liked where this conversation was going but let the older man talk.

"There is a marine base or something like that in the capital. They take in kids and train them to join their troops," Cordin leaned backwards on his chair as he turned to properly look at his subordinate.

Roat snorted: "But a marine..? That..wouldn't that be quite bad for us if he joined them?"

Cordin lowered his brow in warning: "I trust him. And so should you."

Roat pointed what his boss was not bringing up: "I don't think the boy could meet us, should the circumstances turn out so."

Cordin inhaled his cigar. A weary smile constructed on his face.

"I know. But I have thought this through."

Crocodile didn't waste any time after escorting the boy to the edge of the town and leaped back in the forest. There would still be enough daylight left for a trip to hideout and back to town if he left immediately.

When the clearing started Crocodile was satisfied, knewing that he had arrived. In the middle of the clearing was a sad excuse for a building. There were gaps all around between the sloppy walls, the roof was visibly crooked and none of the house's inhabitants cared to repaint the walls which color barely stood out from the wood. On the other hand, for a group of bandits living in a forest this was the best they could do.

The boy paced through the yard noting that the idiots hadn't rooted out the weeds yet. Inside the boy lifted the heavy calico fabric out of his way and entered the room where all the bandits were gathered relaxing on wide cushions or padded chairs. The air was thick of the smell of smoke.

"It stinks in here! Stop smoking!" Crocodile complained and wrinkled the upper part of his nose.

The culprit sat on the largest chair in the room. His wide stomach pounced when he laughed:

"Kuyeh hoh hoh hoh! But it's good that you don't like the smell," Cordin, the bandit leader and the keeper of the hideout stated.

"Huh, why?" The raven-haired child inquired.

_Is he doing it on purpose..?_

"Because I guess it means you won't start this bad habit!" the bandit leader took another inhale from his fat cigar.

"Eww, no way in hell!" The boy's head furthered away as if he concretely avoided the proposition.

"Kuyeh hoh hoh hoh!" His subordinates joined his laughter.

Cordin's whimsical brows which you couldn't tell where the other ended and the other started, crashed down when he spotted the purple blemishes on Crocodile's face and arms, near the shoulders: "You have bruises!"

Crocodile looked to the ground.

"Dare I even ask why..?" The man brought his palms together before bringing his hands, thumbs forward, to lean on his nose bridge.

11 years ago Cordin couldn't have imagined the conversation he was having this moment. He never had been the type to get children and that still hold truth. He never had gotten a child. He had stumbled on one.

_The bandits had quality time with an army of barrels full of sake. Wasn't every day a liqueur delivery carriage crossed their path. As soon as they got back to the hideout they opened the barrels and from that point on, they poured and poured the sweet contents down their throats. Cordin had been the first one whose bladder's limit gave in first and when he fumbled up the others grinned in conspiracy. One of them stated that he now had to get water. The others shouted their agreements before Cordin could even question the request. So he took the bucket with him shaking his head._

_The bandits broke into a mutual fit of laughter when they saw the mud-stained baby Cordin hold firmly in his hands when he returned._

"_No, no, Gordin. You were supposed to get water, not meat."_

"_Didn't know you've had some lady-action, boss!"_

"_Shut up!"_

_Gordin finished half of his cigar until the laughter volumed down._

"_Still, where did you manage to find her? The next town should be miles away."_

_Cordin closed his eyes in deep think._

"_I'm guessing some coocoo tribe left her praying for good hunting luck or some other bullshit."_

"_Well…we could at least give her a name," the woman with the curly purple hair suggested._

"You got into a fight, didn't you?"

"It was not a fight!" Crocodile was quick to protest but gave in when the man rose the other half of his brow. Deciding that it was for the better if he left the bananawani out, apart from that, he could tell Cordin the origin of his injuries.

"Well..Yes it was a fight. But I didn't do it on purpose. Liak and Thep were giving others bad throws on purpose so I told them they'd get kicked out of the group if they didn't stop. And Thep punched me, so I punched him back..."

"Fine, fine." Cordin waved his hand and the boy closed his mouth.

Crocodile had lived his life's first years with the bandits in the swamp area. Though, they had never taken him with them to the raids. Crocodile had learned at young age to read as they left him with books to pass his time with. By the time he turned eight, the bandits sneaked at the night to the town and left the boy there.

For three years Cordin had hoped for the boy to find a new family. But Crocodile failed to this day to have any interest with the town's folk apart from asking for food. He visited the bandits regularly after finding his way to their hideout. The first time he appeared back in front of them got them on high alarm and cursing themselves for not blindfolding the kid when they had transported him away. What if the village people had tracked him? After some time they were able to relax as it became clear that the town's folk didn't see any connection with them and a homeless kid.

The man tilted his head slowly. When he stopped his head, his eyes widened. Crocodile winced when the man suddenly threw himself backwards with a short but strong laughter.

"Kuyeh hoh! Well, I admit that you are no coward. Well, one can't be when one has the same name as the beast king," Cordin patted the yellow belt on his tummy.

"Yeah, yeah." The boy simply shrugged not bothering anymore to remind that the name really wasn't exactly the same. Why couldn't they have just given him a more ordinary name?

"And friends have arguments sometimes, they just do good. Let some steam out," Cordin brought his fist to his palm and nodded.

"They are not my friends." The boy stated and crossed his arms.

Cordin could only cover his face to his hand and mumble sharply.

"No one can live by themselves, dear Croco. But...Ah, I guess life will teach you that better to you than any of my words."

Seeing that the boy was getting bored with these lectures, Cordin brushed the matter off and asked if the boy was in the mood to listen his rambles of the old pirate days of his. Crocodile nodded eagerly and Cordin smiled as he stroke his bald chin.

"Once there was a time we encountered sea monkeys."

"Sea monkeys? Crocodile blinked.

"Yes, they were monkeys that lived in the sea and are at least ten times bigger than the ones you see here."

Crocodile nodded in amaze.

"And as they emerged from the water, I was having my breakfast. Boy, was I scared shitless when I saw them. I tried offering them my half-eaten banana." the man hold out his hand and curled air between.

"Ku ha ha ha!" Crocodile chuckled. Cordin would have given up half of his men for those laughters. They were the only moments Crocodile didn't speak slowly and Cordin could hear his unbind voice.

"Hmm, yes, maybe they would have accepted my offer, had it been a full banana. Kuyeh hoh hoh hoh!"

After listening to several entertaining memoirs, Crocodile stepped outside when he met Roat at the yard.

"I'm leaving now," Crocodile informed him but the look in Roat's eyes was holding him.

"What is it?"

Roat seemed to be in some kind of inner fight with himself before he let out an almost undetectable sigh and revealed what was on his mind.

"There..might come a time you have to start your own life."

Crocodile's eyes widened and he was quiet for quite a time until he shrugged his shoulders.

Roat sighed louder this time and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Oh, I didn't mean to upset you, boy. We're not talking about anytime soon." Roat reassured, partially lying, because they hadn't discussed the time yet.

Crocodile swallowed with effort and his lips tightened together but he didn't say a word.

A sight of smoke lingering from inside the doorway foretold of Cordin's appearance to the yard. The large man furthered his hand holding the cigar and wholeheartedly hummed: "Oh, come here. Give me a hug before you leave."

Crocodile felt only a tiny bit of hesitation before pressing himself against the chubby man. The little boy noticed how the older man smelled like those horrible cigars of his and how he felt damp from wearing the same shirt for the third day in a row. Crocodile noticed these things but it didn't bother him for that moment. When Crocodile pulled himself away and left towards the city he felt his cheeks tingling.

Hijan, the vice leader of the bandit group, scratched the back of her ear and slouched to join Cordin for a smoke outside. She grinned to the bandit leader:

"I'm a little bit jealous, you know."

**/A/N:**

***edit 24.4.2014 I fixed some things in the first three chapters Venere Veritas was kind enough to point out with improvements. Thank you very much~***

**Thank you for reading! I think the next chapter is way shorter but I'll also get it finished shortly, maybe in a week? I have worked bits from here and there in this project; I have written almost every chapter some bit; some only have notes, some are nearly complete. The time scale will be pretty much Croco's life until the events in Marineford. Though, understandably, there will be time skips. Some short, some longer.**

**And yes, Crocodile is a boy in a female body before meeting Ivankov. I found the fandom theory interesting and it fits this story quite well./**


	2. Unwanted Help

A week had passed since Crocodile's visit to the bandits when a caballo alpaca with its rider arrived in the village. The man set down from the saddle and patted the white animal. He stretched his legs before he paced to the only cafe of Uliami. Apart from the tables, chairs and the counter, the place was rather sparsely decorated. A large den den mushi was in the corner with a poster hanging above it informing '_250 beli/ a_ _call_'.

The traveller was welcomed with warm smiles, most of them lined with wrinkles. Nick had yet to collect those years before him even if he had passed the days of youth long ago. Both the customers and the staff looked at him with curiosity. It was not everyday they saw someone from outside of the town.

A man beside the wide window had noticed the outsider before he had entered and was now waving to him.

"Nick, over here!"

The officer nodded to the folks and made his way to the window seat. Both of the men were beaming and babbling to each other even after the waiter brought the stranger a large pint of water.

"I thought your screws were out of their place when you moved here voluntarily, Hedan. But now I see why you did." The man took in the atmosphere of the cafe.

"Well, nothing is stopping you. Pack your things in the capital and move here," the man joked and took a deep breath of his tobacco.

"You should know better than me that there's no work here." The police said as if he had taken the other seriously.

"Well..yeah, you'd have a hard time finding crime here to fight against."

The police sipped his drink in deep thought.

It sounded as if he was wondering to himself when he said: "So, there really hasn't been a single assault into this village for years?"

"Hey, you are the one who has the statistics on that sort of stuff." Hedan pointed at the officer and grinned. "But yeah, this is a place where literally nothing happens. In both good and bad." The man examined the street outside the window. Wind raised dust from the ground into a spiral. The only life Hedan was able to detect outside were a few youngsters playing. Nick also started to examine the town's life.

_Kids._

The officer couldn't help but smile at the view. Those little sprouts never ceased to have a soft spot in his heart.

"So, just relax for now, you workaholic." Hedan shed some butt of his tobacco to his empty plate.

"No worries," Nick patted the clothes, today civilian, on him to reassure his friend.

The other was about to object him with his collections of their middle school time but gave up.

The door opened and a raven-haired youth entered. The child rushed to the cashier who reluctantly handed over to her some dry cookies from yesterday. The kid muttered a barely noticeable 'thanks'.

"Hey girl, hold on a second!"

Nothing could have been more venomous than Crocodile's glare that moment towards Nick. The officer blinked his eyes before walking to the counter and buying three meat pies. Smiling, he handed them in a paper bag to the girl who took it after some hesitation and hurried out of the store.

The woman behind the register grunted. "Don't take it to your heart. She is always like that." The officer shook his head and mumbled that he was used to kids without manners. He returned to his friend at the table who continued firing questions about the officer's life since they had last seen.

A soft darkness was starting to cover the town before the men decided it was time to let the store owner close the place.

"Hmm, I hope that girl also has a place to sleep at," the police thought aloud.

Hedan pondered for a time enough to awaken the officer's curiosity:

"She does have a place to sleep, doesn't she?"

His friend shrugged. The deep concentration on his face faded when he chuckled:

"They say she goes time to time to the wilderness. But I don't know..Probably just a joke because..well, you saw her attractive personality."

The officer nodded in agreement. He would have left the matter at that. But when he was on his way to his caballo, ready to get back home, he bumped into the girl.

"Evening," he nodded and noticed that the girl still had the food, including a small rucksack.

"Evening," Crocodile replied without even looking at him in the eyes.

The officer was about to ask about the girl's parents' whereabouts when she rushed away. The girl was really heading towards the woods. He stared at her back in confusion when suddenly it hit him. Only two kinds of people lived amongst the swamps: Tribal people and outlaws. The former hardly left the forest. Nick reached for the end of his pocket until he found the little den den mushi. He snorted picturing his friend's face if he knew what he was about to do.

_Fine, maybe I'm a little bit workaholic._

**/A:n I referred to Crocodile here as a girl because this was from a view that saw him so. I'm not good at making long chapters, sorry...OTL/**


	3. Losing The Trail

**/A/N: Big, big thanks for pikku_millie and ECA. You guys are a big help with your ideas when my writing gets really stuck *inserts heart here for each of you***

**Finally, I got this chapter done. Critics, comments, questions, anything at all that comes to your mind, leave a review or a pm. Tell me what you liked or absolutely hated. I appreciate the feedback! But anyways, I hope you'll enjoy~~/**

The bandit leader's face flashed persistently through Crocodile's mind as he hopped over the wide roots sticking up from the ground. His imagination strained the old man's expression with wrinkles caused by Crocodile's current actions. Besides the days of heavy raining, the nights were out of the question for a visit to the hideout. They might have given him the basic training for defending himself along with his pistol but they were not exactly thrilled of the idea of him purposefully seeking any trouble.

"It's best to leave the wilds for its owners the moment the sun sinks down" they said. And Crocodile respected that logic only straying from obeying it on a few occasions. This was one of those times he made an exception to the rule. Crocodile's idea had lingered until the late dusk and he was too impatient to wait until morning. Besides, he had traveled a hundred times this same path. It was the shortest and safest. The boy could recite the trunks and the branches that were reliable under the weight of the foot and the hand. And the ones that were less so through the hard way. Fortunately for Crocodile, the cost had been only minor, as for figuring out the more animate part of the forest. Cuts, sprains, burns and bruises had all faded eventually along with the pain and ache. Rather than leaving marks on his young skin, his blunders aged Cordin and the others.

A tangle of deep, hoarse noises strengthened when Crocodile pushed the creaking door open. He stepped in to the house that was dark apart from the streaks of moon light entering from the windows. It was a soft light, like a layer of milk. The boy went through all of the rooms in hopes of finding someone who wasn't already sleeping before checking the common bedrooms. To his disappointment all of the bunks were in use by their owner, each one of them fast asleep. The weapons were on the floor on a carelessly tossed pile.

_They must have returned from a raid…_

Crocodile stared at the snoring inhabitants and went to the kitchen, not even trying to prevent the clumsy wooden floor from crying under his steps. He would have preferred them to be much more noisier. The raven-haired halted at one of the dinner tables and piled up some plates to make room. He placed down the rustling paper bag that still had all the pies inside. Despite his drowsiness and the knowledge that he'd have to trek the same distance back to town, Crocodile was pleased for accomplishing his whim. The bandit leader might frown at first upon finding those pies in the morning. But then he'd stuff them in his mouth, notice how delicious they were and would nod to himself and think aloud that Crocodile sure was a fine boy.

Crocodile closed the front door behind him and his shadow got loose from the bask of moonlight in the clearing when he rustled back to the trail.

Nick stayed completely still against the rough trunk as he observed the girl coming back outside from the shady building. She wasn't holding the paper bag in her hands anymore. There were only a handful of trees between the man and the child when she blended in the shadows. It seemed that she was heading back to Uliami. Nick let her go, he had memorized the route. And he was more interested in the people in the house before him. Nick was trembling. He was furious.

_Those assholes..How long have they made that little girl steal for them? Even the meat pies I gave her! Poor girl. And she is so afraid that she's unable to tell anyone in the town…Maybe they even threaten her. Maybe they have her whole family as a hostage!_

The officer nodded to himself in the dark. His instincts had been right on making that call for a back-up from the next town. They had first hesitated but after taking a look at his records inclined to sending him help. And they even gave the special permission for the men to take the zap-alpacas, the fastest animal breed on the island. They would get these bastards hiding in the building under arrest and for Nick it was self-evident that they had to act tonight. He didn't want the girl to suffer a moment longer. Nick nearly jumped when the den den mushi started ringing and lifted the receiver up after collecting his breath.

_That was fast…_

He described in detail the route through the forest to the clearing and hang up the phone.

The bushes rustled when a crowd of officers with their guns on their backs greeted Nick. One of them approached him.

"The situation?"

"No changes," Nick informed.

"We give them one change to surrender in peace."

Nick agreed though he frowned mentally. It was unfair that this scum was treated better than they deserved. Had he the authority they'd eliminate these criminals on the spot when they were vulnerable. But he had vowed to the code.

The man next to Nick held out his hand and was given the megaphone. He adjusted it to the fullest volume to make sure it cut through the snoring from inside the house. A shout rang out in the clearing: "This is the police! Come out with your hands in the air!"

_They better not have any captives in there._

Nick gripped his gun tighter against his shoulder.

The bandits' sleeping halted and they fumbled out of their beds when the loud words from outside had penetrated into their consciousness. Their quick hope of them being just a fragment of a messed up nightmare was crushed away when the command was repeated, with an addition that they better hurry up or else they'd start the fire. The bandits were whispering loudly while taking glances from the windows to the yard and crouching close to the floor level:

"They found us!"

"Fuck!"

"Fucking hell!"

"What now?"

"How did they find us?"

There weren't a whole lot of reasons to choose from. Everyone knew and at the same time weren't still sure how this had happened. The look on Hijan's face tensed when she went for her gun.

"Get your weapons."

She started firing the men outside before the others even got a hold of their weapons. The police answered with gunfire.

"Hijan! We can't kill them all!" Roat yelled in desperation after the shooting on both sides had been going on for some time. The police were outnumbered by them by this point, they didn't need to continue the fighting.

"If we do that, _they_ will hunt us down!" he tried reasoning his friend but she showed no signs of ending her bullet fire.

"Stop!"

Hijan gave a sideways glance as she spoke: "If we leave any alive-"

"Then who do you think will be in trouble?"

Roat stared at her for a while, nodded and positioned himself once again in the shooting position.

Hijan stopped firing, clinging to her gun only when the last man of the opposing side was on the ground, not moving. The area was scattered by the lifeless bodies, one of them their friend.

Cordin crouched to the body of their now former chef, sighed and commanded:

"We are leaving. Take nothing unnecessary with you."

A weak protest could be heard in the crowd: "But what about-"

"I said we are leaving!" Cordin interrupted.

"Someone has to explain to the boy" one of them proposed warily while the man next to him wept.

"And what do you think will happen if they send another group here and they find a message before Crocodile, huh?" Cordin spatted. He kicked the brown-haired body laying on the ground with a force that would have severely damaged the guts, had they been operational.

After packing the vital supplies the bandits took a last glance at their home before heading deeper into the woods. To a destination they themselves were not sure of. After an eerie silence the dark forest burst back into chirps. A bird group in the trees that had been observing the place for a while landed smoothly to the ground. The vultures skittered to the corpses. Three of the birds backed far away when one of the servings started shooing them. The rest of the flock ended their meal time as the shooing object now rose from the ground. The officer breathed heavily and looked around the former battle field. He didn't notice the angry shrieking of the birds as they flew back to the treetops. The only survivor of the police group started taking rough steps. His head hang down.

The sun was starting to be visible in the horizon's edge when the police found his way back to the outskirts of the town. The old man on the porch set down his news paper and rushed to the wounded man. He grabbed a hold of the man in uniform just in time before he fainted to his arms.

Crocodile woke up in the deserted store to an extraordinary commotion outside. He brushed off the tangled bangs over his face and straightened himself up, stiff from the hard and dusty floor. The boy dragged himself to the door, then outside where a crowd was gathered tightly around an old granny from the edge of town, all chattering loudly. Crocodile heard bits here and there of the interrogation that was going on. A police. Gunshot wounds. Crocodile felt his throat drying and stepped away from the people, back to the building he kept his stuff in. The only thing he took with him in a hurry was his pistol. In case things were as bad as he feared they might be.

The boy's vague deductions were confirmed at the destination when he saw the clearing, now littered with half-eaten bodies, the birds still chewing them. Crocodile felt his stomach twisting and he awoke to the fact that he had been just standing there for some time and hadn't breathed. Crocodile eyed the unfamiliar bodies on the ground and a horrible realization hit him when he noticed their clothes.

_"Okay, this is important Crocodile, so listen closely," Hijan had suddenly coughed to make the nine-year-old stop reading. He had moved the book aside reluctantly and looked at her with his arms crossed. "There are certain people who…" At this point she glanced at Roat who leaned his head, closed his other eye and rotated his other hand. "…Who don't like us very much," the woman finished her sentence. Crocodile knew it wasn't just about dislike. He had heard about the police, thanks to the two grannies in the town who loved nothing more than to gossip. But he didn't bring his knowledge up. The boy nodded and Hijan took a paper and started scribbling something: "If you see someone like this in the town, don't talk to them and avoid coming here until that person has left for sure."_

_Hijan turned the paper so Crocodile could see the drawing. He couldn't maintain his mouth still when he saw the jumble of wobbling lines. Roat covered his mouth but the wrinkles around his eyes and the muffled laugh betrayed him. Hijan narrowed her eyes at his colleague but handed the paper and the pencil to his extended hands. After a moment Roat presented the two a colored picture of a uniform._

_Crocodile memorized the picture and hoped he would never see a person wearing the clothing in it._

Crocodile shook his head. He had to focus. He scanned the area. The tracks. He could follow them and find the bandits. Crocodile wasted no time when he found the row of marks on the ground. A mix of relief and panic started fighting inside him. They had some lead, he didn't know by how much but if he followed the foot marks and the crushed roots, eventually he'd get to where they were. The boy started pacing and except for the inviting, encouraging marks on the ground disregarded everything in his field of vision. When it had been an hour or two from the start of his tracking, delicate drips started falling from the sky.

_No…_

The amount of the drops multiplied gradually. Crocodile was fatigued but quickened his steps.

_No…_

His lungs were screaming for him to slow down. He couldn't afford to do it. Crocodile roared in frustration to distract himself from the pain. From the desperation. The leaves of the bushes and the trees were pressed downwards by the constant flow from the sky. The guiding signs for Crocodile were getting harder and harder to spot from the muddy ground, as was to keep balance on it.

"No, no, no!" Crocodile shouted with the small amount of breath he had left. His feet tangled and he fell in the dirt. He lifted himself up to his elbows, thoroughly soaked. His shirt and trousers were grimy. The rain's smashing in the forest was so loud that even Crocodile's wails between his weeping drowned under it.

**/A/N:I feel like such a bad person *incomprehensible grumbling*/**


	4. A New Family

**/A/N: In this chapter, I have a little bit of the gender issue at the end. It might be distressing to read if you are familiar with such problems. Hopefully I wrote the part well. I decided on sticking with one pronoun for Crocodile from now on because the character point of view varies more often. I know, sucks for the consistency as to the previous and coming chapters but it'll be less confusing. Hope you'll enjoy~~/**

The snake hissed a warning at the boy who had been inches away of stepping on it. The slithery creature dashed from the view in seconds in the bushes. Crocodile placed his foot down now that the small reptile was gone. Similar to half of the fauna he had came across in the swamp, the creature was inedible and venomous. The young boy had trekked deeper in the wilderness than ever before. The surrounding around him was resembling more a delta with brooks that widened around him into rivers as he walked forward. That's what he had been doing the past two days. Eating what little he found, resting and particularly _walking_. As if he had somewhere to go.

_You could always turn back and go back to the town. Yes, there would be trouble but what choice do you have, really?_

His own voice of reason nagged to him endlessly. And he did realize that he was not thinking straight anymore for not complying to what was self-evident. But as long as he was here on the lookout he had even the slightest chance to make everything right. At least telling himself that managed to shut down the other voice.

Crocodile rubbed his forehead to prevent the drops of sweat from running into his eyes. When he opened his eyes he noticed a peculiar sight in the distance peeking through the thick treetops. A combination of black and white.

_Wait, that's…_

The object was completely still so Crocodile had an easy time studying it. It had been long since Crocodile had spoken so his voice of discovery sounded rasp. Contrary to the delight that was starting to bubble inside him.

…_A pirate flag!_

He hadn't seen one before but the painted skull resting on the canvas was a sign he had been told the meaning of: 'We are pirates.'

Crocodile rushed towards the flag stumbling on his feet and hopping over the thinnest streams of water. When he reached the flag and the ship it loomed over with pride, Crocodile had to stop and catch his breath. The crowd around the ship had not noticed him, laying large chests in the water. So Crocodile moved closer and greeted them to get their attention. They presented him just that with a dozen of guns and swords pointing at him. The gesture confused the boy.

"I'm not with the police," he had to cough after the words so his voice wouldn't die out: "Or a marine." Crocodile added after recollecting what little he knew about the relations pirates had. What mattered to him was that they were the good guys. Right...?

"What the hell?" Both of the sides were now confused. Crocodile had his small gun but other than that, a feeble kid alone with a mess of a hair was not that much of a threat so they lowered their weapons.

The boy decided it was for the best if he started explaining himself: "I saw your flag so I came here."

Crocodile sounded the idea as it came to him: "Because I want to join you."

The crowd of laughter began and Crocodile deeply regretted blurting out his intentions in such a clumsy way.

"What good would you be? A child?" The captain frowned, thinking how degrading it would look like to have a brat on board.

"And a girl at that."

Crocodile could hear the remark and had to grit his teeth.

"I know how to shoot with a pistol. I — I know how to fight without it too." He defended while raising his head to look at them.

"I can — I can shoot that parrot over there in the distance," Crocodile suggested and pointed at the bright red bird on the other side of the river. He wanted to prove that he was not lying. That he was useful.

"Any of us can do that…" the captain leaned his head upwards and sneered.

A man with a bronze piercing on his brow paced to his captain and whispered something.

"Of course I'll let you join us," a smirk spreaded to the captain's face as he nodded the other man away.

"But?" Crocodile inquired the reason for this sudden change of opinion.

"Yes! No more toilet duty for me!" Angry glares were shot to the man who raised a tardy hand to his mouth. The captain was about to bury his face in his hand but halted when Crocodile claimed:

"Fine. I get it. You want me to do the cleaning."

The crew blinked. They were expecting the kid to whimper in objection.

"I'll do it," the boy confirmed to the conditions.

The captain stroke his lower lip for a while before casting an interrogative look through his crew. The nods and shrughs sealed the deal.

The captain arched his back to an excessive bow and snickered: "Welcome aboard."

* * *

"Watch out when you feed her, she might take your arm!" A couple of the men at the table chuckled at the remark pointed for the cook. She laid down the plate in front of Crocodile and rolled her eyes to him apologizing in behalf of her crew mates. Crocodile gorged the warm soup down, not for the taste but for the contentment brought by each spoonful filling his stomach. The pirates did feed him as any other member on the crew but the first days in the ship he had learned the concept of 'seasickness'. Rocking movement was not exactly the easiest thing to avoid on a ship at open sea. When some of the crew men had spotted him emptying his stomach over the railing they had laughed something about growing sea legs.

In the evening Crocodile opened the door to the room full of snoring pirates. Reluctantly, he entered and set himself on the bunk. The cushion under him was both thick and sturdy and the blanket he pulled over himself was soft. But Crocodile felt awkward when he tried to set himself in their hold. First he laid on his back. Then on his stomach. Then he shifted to both of his sides. All this while simultaneously attempting to volume out the snoring. It wasn't the snoring itself that was the problem. It was just that they did it the wrong way. The rhythm was wrong. The noises were wrong. Even the room had a foul scent. Eventually he managed to silence his mind. First came the patchy slumber and finally he fell in the depths of the unconscious.

_Crocodile was on the deck weaving a rope. Someone approached him and the boy lifted his gaze up to see who the person was. Just as their eyes met the man in front of him smiled widely:_

_"Kuyehoh hoh hoh!"_

_"How are you here?" Crocodile fiddled with the rope but made sure it was firmly in his hold. He had a hunch that if it would slip out of his hands, something terrible would happen._

_"Don't you want me to be here? Hmm, that's very cruel of you…" The smile faded downwards into a sulk._

_Roat stepped next to the large man and explained: "Cordin is the captain of the ship. He was in the captain's cabin all the time."_

_'So that's why I didn't see him.'_

_There were other people beside them consisting of both the pirates and the bandits. Though, the peoples' appearances seemed to change as his gaze wandered through them so it was hard to tell who belonged to which group._

_"I command them all!" Cordin laughed boldly after noticing the boy's examining of the crowd._

_Crocodile also laughed until confusion took over his joy._

_"Why don't you smell of your cigars?" The little boy asked._

_The old man didn't say a word as he stared at him questionably. Only now Crocodile realized that his brows were also wrong._

In the next blink of an eye Crocodile didn't see neither the brows or the man anymore. Just the ceiling. Crocodile lifted himself up and leered at the sleeping inhabitants of the room as if they were the guilty ones for his sudden stirring. Crocodile got up from the bed. He needed air. As he got closer to the door leading to the deck the boy heard the wind howling outside.

_What if they were right near, waiting for me?_

Crocodile pressed the handle downward.

_But they did mention leaving me._

When he opened the door it nearly freed itself abruptly from his hold. Crocodile closed the door behind him and leaned to it. A gale welcomed the boy by capturing away his warmth from his bare arms. The massive clouds on the sky didn't let a single star shine through their dirt grey color, only subtly giving away the dark sky blended with red and brown.

_Why would you go and look for them? You'd just get discarded again._

Maybe he was just imagining it but the breeze felt chillier. He supposed it was because his body heat wasn't keeping up so the coldness made quickly its way into his core. Crocodile brushed his arms to reduce the shivering that was beginning to take control.

_You threw me away._

He thought about the waves; how they were undoubtedly magnificent right now, so he slouched to the railing.

_Fine!_

Crocodile crossed his arms on the railing and brought his attention to the turbulent waters below. His eyes widened from the enthralling view. The sea was as rough as he had expected but not as dark. What lighted the mass of salt water was a color show of red, yellow and light blue gleaming under the violent surface. Crocodile's vision drifted all the way to the horizon to see where they ended. In the distance where the sky and the ocean touched he could tell a glow. A faint one but a glow unmistakably. Crocodile brought his gaze back to get a closer inspection on the sight in his hands and arched forward as much as he could without falling over in the freezing water. The luminous corals in the form of towers had to be several meters in height. Possibly much more taller as Crocodile could only speculate on how deep the ocean floor layed. Above the nature's odd constructions, the waves glided and crashed with determination. Foaming and sending droplets flying far and wide with some meeting Crocodile's cheeks. The rush of water was always followed by a similar one, inescapably becoming the new start to the consistent pattern, then the end as it merged back to the sea.

_I'll do the same to you._

* * *

The cold breeze lingered inside the 12-year-old Crocodile even when the ship had left its origin. Crocodile's fingers and palms were still somewhat reddish but at least the stinging was gone. Crocodile tugged the blanket tighter around him in attempt to prevent any of the warm air inside the cloth escape. Two days ago when they had arrived to Veelu, Kiefer had thrusted a shovel in his hands and given the assignment of a human snow pusher. No doubt the asshole of a captain knew the job was a nuisance: Several meters of snow covered the view Crocodile could see from the deck. The sky on the other hand was filled with clouds that were determined of burying their ship too. So Crocodile had spent all his hours on the gruesome winter island on nothing but shoveling while the crew visited the island. Crocodile noted that when they each came back to the vessel, their moods were completely different. He also couldn't help noticing that in his presence they all talked about the same subject with only subtle and not-so subtle gestures. And to his dismay he eventually gathered what the crew was doing on the island.

Crocodile was on the verge of nodding off when there was a knock on the door and his senses heightened. No one visited his room. Or rarely yes but Crocodile had never heard anyone requesting their entering in such a gentle way.

"Hello," the young woman greeted when the boy opened the door, suspicion tensing his movements.

He certainly didn't know this person. Though, when he browsed through her features he recalled seeing her somewhere. Wavy brown hair that rested well over her shoulders, dark brown eyes, and a roman nose.

Crocodile felt an immediate annoyance when his eyes stuck momentarily with the bold open necktie. It wasn't like he would have been surrounded by the most virtuous people what came to clothing but this…

"Who are you?" he blurted not letting his grasp of the handle go.

The woman blinked her painted eyes from the hostility she was presented with but introduced herself after recollecting the smile back on its place.

"I'm Brynja, your new roommate."

_My new what...?_

It was Crocodile's turn to blink. Whereas his new acquaintance's corners of mouth had turned up, Crocodile's lowered.

"What the hell?" He growled. No one had informed him about a new recruit, or more importantly told him he'd be sharing his room with someone. A private room he had worked hard for. Crocodile bet those shitholes wanted to see him come whining to them.

"Are you one of _them_?" the detest in the last word was solid as ice. It struck the girl whose eyes beneath the heavy lashes widened.

"Not anymore," she said as she passed Crocodile in to his room, her heels clapping to the uneven floor smoothly and steadily.

Crocodile closed the door and grabbed a book from the shelf. He was not in the mood to get to know this person. Particularly this kind of a person.

The woman also noted the shelf in the corner and gave it a thorough look.

"Such boring books," she commented and smiled towards Crocodile who didn't return the gesture nor paused his reading.

Despite her earlier words the woman requested to have a closer look at some of the books. The boy mumbled her a go-ahead. Crocodile scratched the back of his head and glimpsed at his roommate with a slightly different view. The woman crouched to scan the books below and Crocodile's eyes focused on the object twirling from her necklace.

"What is that?" Crocodile had seen rings before but people usually kept them in their ring finger if it was the special one. And a ring with a red gemstone certainly seemed like the type.

Brynja cupped the ring and when Crocodile confirmed with a nod she smiled genuinely: "A promise."

When the light offered by the circular window was starting to diminish Crocodile rose from his bed and switched the ceiling light on. He read several chapters from his book but couldn't concentrate on the contents with someone else in the room. It seemed the other had no such problem. Brynja had her eyes locked on the pages before her and hadn't made a single comment.

"I bet you're pissed off about being put here with me," Crocodile stated to test the woman. There was a brief pause filling the air before the girl responded:

"Actually, I requested it myself."

Crocodile had to turn his face to make sure if the woman was taunting him. She was leaning her chin to her right arm, her eyes still on the book. But her mind drifted to some place or time and, concluding from how her eyes narrowed for that while, it was not a pleasant one.

"I hate being alone," she clarified.

This didn't exclude the fact that she could have chosen anyone to keep her company. Anyone on the ship, well at least all the men, would have eagerly agreed to have her as a roommate. Crocodile chose not to inquire further her reasons for specifically choosing him and also went back to his book.

"What I did before..."

The next words Brynja didn't announce before filling them with resolution: "I will never do it again."

* * *

"How the hell could I be okay?! I'm bleeding!" Crocodile lifted his head up from the covers to glare at the woman he had now shared his room with for months.

"It's part of being a girl," Brynja soothed, meaning her words as a comfort for the boy. She expected Crocodile to groan or curse of the monthly nuisance so she got startled when instead the boy yelled weakly:

"No!"

"I'm not a…I'm not..." Crocodile started trembling and collapsed in himself pleading mentally he could prevent the molding that was happening to him. If not, pleading he could erase his existence.

"I don't understand," Brynja complained in frustration.

She stared at her roommate and fidgeted from seeing him in this unsettling state.

A heavy air was seizing the room and whatever this was about was something she had to thread on very carefully. She would not get a second chance, not with Crocodile. Brynja felt the cold surface of the ring pressing against her skin. She gently caressed the jewel a few times.

"Whatever it is…Tell me and I'll help," she said and closed the ring under her fist for a moment and made her way to the bed and sat on the foot of the bed.

What followed was a flow of tears and words.

Two strangers united by trust.

All things he'd come to miss in the faraway future.

**/A/N: Thank you for reading! This chapter concludes the childhood part. If you have any questions or suggestions about anything at all, throw me with a pm/review :) /**


	5. Nuisance For The Eyes

**/A/N: I'm sorry for the long delay. You may notice…Oh, what the hell, you more like will notice that in a certain interaction involving Crocodile and a confident blond with flashy clothes I wasn't able to maintain myself from absurdity :P… Once again, I'm grateful for my friends ECA and pikku_millie for helping me out 3 I was thrilled when I was able to get back in this work and I hope you'll enjoy the story too: I noticed on tumblr that it's Crocodile's birthday(!) so I'm posting this now so I'll get in on time :'DProbably gonna edit this later.**

**ps. The bond between Crocodile and Brynja is one of bond siblings, just to be clear.**

**edit* 25.2.2015 Fixed some little things here and there, thanks Venere Veritas and ECA!/**

The years had gone by at the seas of the Blue and brought changes in Crocodile. The 19-year old stood at the harbor with his head looming above most. His dark hair was the same as ever, neatly kept behind. The saturation, however, was weakened by the current, thick pollen filling the air. The raven-haired pirate had given up on brushing it off his hair and clothes, seeing that the tiny yellow fuzz swaying and surrounding around everything was not coming to an end anytime soon. At least according to what the salesman had told him, this could last for an hour or a few. As the number of people bumping into Crocodile and quickly apologising was growing, he scolded himself for refusing to buy one of the large fans carried by the old man. He had miscalculated the man's opinion on the pollen's duration only as a wild exaggeration. After waiting in vain for an hour for the troublesome barrier to fade away he would have appreciated the tool to make some distinct view around him. The younger pirate was supposed to be on his way to the town and join Brynja there but with things like this…he had little to no choice but stand there by the ships and wait for his companion to come and get him.

One of the human figures in the blurry view before him was approaching. Crocodile was ready to reluctantly make way when a gust burst out of nowhere sending that nasty pollen right in his eyes. The muttering of the young man pressing his eyes shut from the irritation halted when a voice exclaimed: "Ah, there you are."

"How did you manage to find me?" Crocodile asked not ready yet to open his eyes.

"Luck. And this," At this point the man slightly opened his eyes to see Brynja presenting him a fan of the same type as the salesman's.

"Did you get much?" Crocodile stepped forward and the woman lead the way, sweeping the vivid blocker-of-the-view-in-the-air further as they walked.

"Better than expected," Brynja gladly answered. The taller one raised his brows so she snatched small, but respectably full pouches from her pocket. The tingle produced when she patted her belongings was subdued but charming for the ears of the two and the woman couldn't help a proud smile from blooming.

Crocodile caught some of the contentment too and nodded.

"I wouldn't mind a breeze right now," the man said, gesturing towards not any specific spot.

"There are no winds here," Brynja told and explained further: "Not when the pollen is in the air."

"Well, as long as their ships are good…" Crocodile's brows wrinkled in concentration.

"Their crop cools the air in pollination-Ah!," The yell got Crocodile's offense on in a second, him assuming there was a pocket thief or a groper in the sight. He was circling his gaze through the puzzled faces on the street to find the fool and let him taste some disagreement when he felt a yank.

He turned around and relaxed when he saw that his companion was pointing at a clothes store sign hanging high on a brick wall.

"Weren't you taking me to see the ships?" Crocodile sighed, partly letting out the tension born just seconds ago. Brynja didn't say a word and the pirate was opening his mouth to remind that they should continue their travel when he felt her making another yank. A milder one not for the purpose on making him turn but to pay attention to one of the many holes in his shirt she had took a hold of.

"I'm tired of looking at those," she raised her brows.

Well, the fabric was indeniably fast becoming suitable for nothing but a rag. If even for that.

"At least get a new shirt. My treat."

"…Fine," The man actually took the idea inviting so he didn't start any backtalk.

"Go ahead and investigate the building site, I don't want my first ship to sink the moment it touches the water because the carpenters are lousy," Crocodile instructed and entered the building.

The raven-haired grimaced upon discovering inside that the store was more demanding on the payment side than he had expected. The cashier turned his eager eyes to him. After a quick scan the shop worker quit the act of putting on a smile. The counter shrinked in comparison with the man behind it. Crocodile estimated the man to be roughly around two meters and his bulk was well-trained muscle. Crocodile became aware of his clothes being inferior in this space. Hell, he felt like the air he was exhaling was polluting the air he was now inhaling. He would have left the place for making him feel this way if the clothes hadn't been so inviting. Not like he was considering to buy any of them with the future ship occupying his and Brynja's savings but… He passed through the women's section without paying a second look. The marble floor beneath his steps was nice change to the streets paved with cobblestone.

There was just one thing that irritated him in the otherwise elegant shop. Crocodile's clothes may have been on a different price level, but at least they blended in with the colors. Unlike the brat behind him. Crocodile examined the shorter boy's clothing. His tight trousers were dark gray and his shirt was of the color of bright salmon and had ridiculous patterning. Crocodile could see that the shirt was a size or two too small. When the blond reached for the hats on the upper shelf it lifted up revealing Crocodile the boy's lower back. The brat threw the hats over his shoulder after barely giving them a look. The other customers looked in shock at the teen's behavior and whispered to each others.

"Are you a fucking brat or what?" Crocodile wasn't able to hide his dismay of the act. Pirate or not, at least he had the manners to behave in public.

The blond was talented, really. It only took him the simple act of turning around to make Crocodile dissapprove of him even more. The raven-haired could tolerate the sun glasses indoors, as absurd as it was. The boy's smile or whatever horrendous expression that was however...It gave him the creeps.

"Mind your own business, " the boy simply said with the wide grin still drawn all over his face.

Now he's done it. It was time Crocodile gave that little punk a lecture on respect. Crocodile took a step closer to the boy clenching his hand and bringing it for the strike when —

The cashier's loud fake cough halted Crocodile's movement on the spot.

"You two keep up with that and I'll throw you out. Trust me, I've been known to keep my word."

The raven-haired undid his fist and returned his hand back down. It was tempting to settle things between him and the rascal outside with a little help of a fist strike or two. But his head was getting more clear now that the rush of adrenaline was gone. It would be completely foolish to make a scene when the ship was at stake.

The blond constructed an exression that seemed to ask 'well?'

Crocodile folded his brows and with a degrading snort turned his back to the brat.

_He must be some kind of a retard. Eventually someone's going to give him a kick in the face if he keeps that up. I bet he can't afford anything in this store._

Crocodile slid his fingers carefully across a dark blue glove to feel the leather. It was rather charming indeed but maybe a little too fancy for a pirate. He continued on to the other pieces of clothing. He gave every piece that caught his interest a closer look, drinking in all the delicately combined details. It felt like just holding the items in his hands transformed him.

A soft thump somewhere forced Crocodile out of his bubble of luxury. He closed his eyes tightly and wrinkles formed on his forehead. He sent a scowl in the direction of the sound and wasn't the least bit surprised to find out who the culprit was. The blond boy slid his foot under the vest that had fallen on the floor. He somehow managed to send the cloth flying and land to the enormous pile of cloths he was holding in his hands. Crocodile was amazed he hadn't dropped all the clothes he had hoarded. The cashier didn't see this as a skillfull play but as an offense against the clothes and his store itself. His face was rapidly turning deep red as he kept his narrowed eyes on the brat, following his every movement. When the boy started approaching the front side of the shop the raven-haired decided to see what was going to happen.

_Oh, now this will be hilarious._

The blond passed the counter without a care in the world, just before coming to the front door turning towards the cashier and announcing: "I will be taking these, thank you."

The whispering in the store grew louder. The cashier wasn't gritting his teeth anymore, quite the opposite. He looked excited.

"Okay kid, now you went and took the joke too far," he crossed his arms and calmly stood still.

The blond stretched his neck – Crocodile noticed the move of the head even behind all that ridiculous cloth pile – and asked the man: "So you are not giving these clothes to me?"

_Obviously not._

How the idiot had survived to this day with his level of thinking, was a complete mystery for Crocodile.

The cashier let out a soft chuckle devoid of real amusement: "No, I'm not. This ain't no charity kid."

For a while the boy stood there and stared at the man. Just when Crocodile was sure the boy would leap into a run to the streets, he slouched to the counter and set down all of the clothes on the desk. Some of the customers gave a short round of applause.

The cashier nodded approvingly. The nodding froze when the teen declared: "I'm being real nice to you, old man. If you shut your trap now, I'm letting you off the hook." Every single one in the store was speechless.

_Oh yes, no denying it. A nut head and a suicidal at that._

However, the cashier quickly recovered and smiled devilishly to the boy: "Oh yeah? Listen, there will be no day when I'm going to be pushed around by a snot nose like you." Even Crocodile could tell a vein growing in the man's forehead.

The blond stuck his hands into his pockets. "Hey, frown-man," the blond boy called and turned his grinning face. The people also stared in the same direction to see that the teen was directing his words to Crocodile assuming he was the troublemaker's friend. They made sure to give him the most degrading look they could muster. Crocodile was too busy with returning the boy a glare with slight interest peeking trough to notice.

"I'll show you something interesting." Crocodile saw the full set of the blond's teeth before the boy turned back to the cashier and spread his hands out of the pockets. Crocodile had presumed two possible outcomes:

_One: The boy was mental and had grenades of some sort, ready to blow up the place._

Fortunately, wrong. Though the first one was arguable.

_Two: He was part of some kind of a gang and trusted on fast stealth moves. So he would carry small bladed weapons._

Wrong as well.

The boy had absolutely nothing in his hands.

Crocodile snorted shortly and even the cashier's vein was disappearing quick.

Then the boy started flexing his fingers in odd postures. The cashier gacked and his eyes widened. Crocodile couldn't believe his eyes. The cashier was choking himself! The customers were screaming.

_He's a fruit user!_

"Guess the magic word," the boy chuckled to the man. His fingers were now still.

Unintelligible gacking was all that came from the cashier's mouth.

"Fu fu fu, silly me," the blond stretched his fingers closer to each others. The man's grip on his throat eased and he gasped for air.

"P-Please…" He panted as he took support from the table.

The boy raised his hands only to slide them back to his pockets and hummed. He nodded to the cashier who backed away from him to the wall behind.

"How did you like my show?"

For some utterly stupid, unexplainable reason Crocodile was now noticing just how long the boy's legs were compared to his torso. A different feeling was now rising inside him. Stubbornness.

_All Hell's fury burn me if I kiss the ass of someone looking like a freaking flamingo._

So he gave the boy his most unimpressed expression. It felt like no living soul in that store apart from the two boys dared to breath as they observed how the situation would unfold. The corners of the blond boy's mouth twitched. Crocodile's survival instinct was screaming on the sign to alter the course and quickly. But he suppressed the warning.

"No imagination really," he belittled.

He had been hoping to take that idiotic grin down. The burst of laughter echoing in the store was not what he had been expecting from the other.

"Hmm, really now?" The boy cooed as he raised his hands out with his fingers towards Crocodile.

"Doflamingo!" Suddenly a man with a pony-tail rushed inside. It seemed the troublemaker knew him because he stopped whatever he had been about to do and lowered his hand.

"What?"

"The log pose is set. Captain wants us in the port."

The blond's companion glimpsed at the shop and quickly had to look again. Only now he detected the atmosphere inside.

"Uh, what happened here?" He asked not sounding like he really wanted to know.

"Nevermind that. But the captain, huh?"

"Yeah, captain Vergo asked himself —"

The man slapped himself in the face with a force that sent him to ground. He stared at both Doflamingo and his hand in confusion.

"The next time you forget **I'm **the captain, you'll have no arm to slap yourself with."

The man trembled and nodded to the boy.

"Now, help me carry the clothes," Doflamingo pointed over his shoulder at the cloth pile still at the counter and louched outside from the shop leaving all the job for the other to do.

The raven-haired stared at the doorway trying to slowly comprehend what had just happened when he heard the smuggest cough ever. He turned his head along with the others in the building towards a young couple. A small glitter could be seen between the man's sturdy fingers before he stuffed something in his pocket. The two golden wrist watches shifted downwards as he lifted his arms up turning his palms to face the ceiling.

"Don't worry ladies and gentlemen. The minute that insolent boy walked in here I called the marines. You see, my instinct was practically screaming the runt would mean trouble."

"Oh, Louis! You are my hero!" the woman beside the man grabbed into the man's arm.

Crocodile crunched his teeth together. He had to get out of there. At least from the city. Hell, away from the island if this marine call was again one of those over-the-top types the upper class made. Simply because they had the power. Just now when he had planned on taking it easy but no, there just had to be infuriating people like this ruining it for him.

"The marines are coming!" A yell from outside confirmed the change of situation and Crocodile dashed his way out.

Hundreds of silhouettes were crossing each others by when both the pirates and the civilians rushed on the streets still engulfed by the dense pollen. It whirled along the air currents set off by the brisk steps of the people.

It didn't take long before Crocodile recognized the uniform of blue and white as one marine appeared out of nowhere right in front of him and nearly fell down from the clash. Before the young marine even had the change to raise his head up the pirate pushed him, sending him all the way to the ground. The same fate was reserved for those who didn't realize to move out of his way.

When he found that one back he had been looking for in the chaos, Crocodile grabbed the woman from the shoulder before she'd disappear. Brynja let out a short screech but after turning around she calmed down and nodded: "Marines."

"They're doing a full check," The male pirate informed.

Brynja inhaled through her teeth and despite the racket surrounding them Crocodile could have sworn her lips forming the words 'not again'.

She shook her head shortly and nodded towards: "The ship. It's ready."

They rushed as quickly as they could, cursing every pirate and marine stepping on their way and slowing them down.

"We're practically there!" Brynja croaked out of breath and Crocodile was about to make the final haste when something dragged him backwards for a few seconds, then let him go with a loud sound of fabric ripping. The pirate turned around but the culprit for the damage was already gone out of sight. Crocodile eyed the shirt under his armpit to find a former insignificant hole now torn much wider, revealing the binder under.

Following Crocodile's eyes widening in disbelief, Brynja grabbed a hold from the hem of the shirt she was wearing and inelegantly pulled it over her head with her breasts nearly springing out from her bras. The male pirate shook his head and glanced around ready to smack anyone if their eyes met the view. Brynja stepped right beside him ignoring the other's visible disapproval for her actions. With a determined look, she wrapped tightly the cloth around him, making up for the lost fabric. The taller pirate opened his mouth and stared at her but once again shook his head.

"You didn't buy clothes," the woman turned her back to him crossing her arms. With Crocodile not feeling up to a talk she had to consent to his groan and draw her own conclusions of the day.

**/A/N: Thank you for reading. The next chapter will take some time, maybe two months. I haven't been able to produce a specific kind of writing routine so it's hard to say./**


	6. The Meetings

**A/N: HELL YEAHH! I got this finally done, PHEW! **

**I edited the previous chapter with Doflamingo now being a captain as his flashback seemed to suggest that he was one at a rather young age. ECA found an awesome One Piece amv called Overcoming an era by DnManumont and I may have spent a couple of days looping it and squealing :D Okay, end of the author notes, please enjoy!**

* * *

As far as Crocodile could tell from the deck the sea was calm. If there had been a full moon that night, the water would have reflected it perfectly with no ripples disrupting its surface. But Crocodile didn't let himself be lulled into the fall sense of security by the atmosphere. The Grandline had its beauty. But not without its vicious side that had claimed numerous men's lives for not keeping their eyes open.

The male pirate was all right with keeping watch tonight. He was too troubled to get any sleep done knowing the next island would be where him and Brynja would meet Gazkai as they had agreed via den den mushi. The man would be the first to join their crew along with Paz and Tamsyn whom Crocodile had appointed to also meet with in Green city.

What bothered him was Gazkai.

The midge of a man he had saved from nearly eating Devil Fruit. His **second** Devil Fruit. The man had had no clue of the danger and had proclaimed that he now 'owed a great favor for him for saving his life.' The man himself was useless but his Devil Fruit ability was an asset Crocodile could not dismiss: The midge was able to view his surroundings as if he were high up in the sky just by closing and circling his eyes, as Crocodile had witnessed in the auction they had met.

A sound of waves in the darkness alerted Crocodile back to the present. He squinted his eyes towards the sound to see a medium sized ship heading their way. With its current speed it would pass them in the next short minutes. It wasn't that unusual to meet with another ship, especially with the huge cargo ones. It was more rare to come across with the pirates or the marines but Crocodile was on his toes and ready to use either the pistol or the sabre on his belt if problems arose.

As the strange looking ship neared theirs, Crocodile was able to tell its figurehead and scowled in disbelief.

_I'm starting to feel sick. I could strangle whoever designed that garbage!_

The wooden flamingo carving was quickly gone from Crocodile's head however, when he saw the man in the opposite deck and recognized his laughter. Doflamingo was sitting carelessly on the railing with his other leg rocking back and forth over the water.

"Fu fu, what a lousy boat you have there."

Of course the flamingo had to have a flamingo ship. Crocodile could not comprehend the need to sport such a lousy name for all the world to see.

"At least it doesn't burn my eyes like yours."

The punk just laughed the insult off and noticed the flag hanging over Crocodile's mast. The jolly roger was covered by the creases but the black color was a dead giveaway:

"Oh, I see you're a pirate too. Do yourself a favor and go back to the Blue Seas,"

Crocodile felt once again the strong need to pummel the brat to the ground. And this time there was no one stopping him.

"I'll make you repeat those words. With your throat under my blade." The raven-haired leapt to the other ship and unsheathed his sword.

The blond sneered:

"You should have just kept quiet."

Crocodile was now facing the boy with a few meters separating them. He observed quickly their surroundings. The deck was clean of items apart from the sides where they had been gathered. Apart from a large barrel to his left the space was easy to move on and he wouldn't have to watch out from bumping onto something.

Doflamingo spread his right arm to his side with his fingers half-bent.

Crocodile remember well the gesture and adjusted his sword ready:

"Go ahead and try, I've already seen you using that."

The blond smirked and threw his hand towards Crocodile who slashed the sword, bringing it in front of him as means of defense. Instead of his throat the threads hit his blade bouncing of from it. A few of them holed the wine barrel that started to leak.

One string flew over Crocodile who could hear it clearly with his right ear.

_I'll have to keep my sword at ready, it's the only thing between me and his strange Devil fruit attacks._

The raven haired charged towards Doflamingo not letting his blade down for one second. The other aimed next more lower, to Crocodile's knees but the attack was blocked again. This time the strings shot straight up just an inch away from Crocodile's face and he could feel his heart starting to beat uncomfortably.

_If only I could see those things he's sprouting out of his hands! This damn darkness!_

The blond rose the hand above his head, twitched it open before tossing it towards Crocodile's chest.

_Shit!_

He dodged down to his side succesfully and noticed a large round object next to him. Crocodile grabbed the cannon ball and hurled it at the boy, hoping to ideally mash his face unrecognizable. The blond's smile tightened downwards when the ball nearly hit the said face. He managed to slice the ball of metal but had to cover his face from the flying pieces.

Crocodile saw the momentum and ran right in front Doflamingo to sting him. The boy peeked through the protective fingers to see what Crocodile was about to do and twirled his right hand. The raven-haired's blade was guided against his will, and instead of the chest ended up over the boy's shoulder. The prolonged motion nearly made Crocodile topple against his opponent.

He was in trouble now. His sword was immovable, no matter how or what direction he yanked it, the weapon was as if cursed still. If he'd let go of the sword, there was nothing to protect himself with.

The other had also noticed the desperate situation Crocodile was now in and laughed in gloat. The raven-haired tightened the grip on his sword gritting his teeth.

"First you insult my ship and then go touching my stuff without my permission?"

Crocodile smirked when he got an idea: "Whine when I've taken your head."

Crocodile took a firm hold of Doflamingo's right hand, pressing the fingers together as to make the boy incapable of using his power. With the help of his bodyweight and free arm, Crocodile forced the young boy's head against the sword. Doflamingo punched Crocodile just below his chest and sent him flying along with his sword. The older man landed against boxes losing his breath twice in a row.

"And how about I take yours?"

Crocodile swept his face and just in time blocked the next attack with the tip of his blade making it in the strings' way. One of the sharp threads sank half an inch in his shoulder as it passed by. The man restrained the urge to cry out from the pain. Another set of strings shot at Crocodile. They bound him by his throat to the box the man had his back against. The pirate gacked and dug his fingers under the thing confining him but the act was to no avail.

The blond watched in amusement at the struggle before him and laughed boldly. Crocodile was about to pass out anytime now with the thread making it impossible to breathe properly. So this was how it had felt for the cashier. Doflamingo's laughter gradually quieted down and ended. He walked closer to Crocodile until he was standing over him with his legs spread out next to Crocodile's sides and smiled down upon the defeated man:

"All this talk and nothing —"

Doflamingo yelped when Crocodile swept him off his balance with his legs causing the blond to fall down on his back. The younger boy growled slowly rubbing his back and glared at Crocodile but he had already fainted, having used his final air to fight until the bitter end.

* * *

Crocodile opened his eyes to see that it was a bright morning. The male pirate was back in his own ship on the deck along with his sword. The ocean had remained tame through the night and only white shreds of clouds crawled in the sky. Crocodile tried his throat to confirm that the nasty thread was gone for good and took a deep inhale. How great it felt to breathe freely. Suffocation had been an experience he'd preferably not go through ever again. Crocodile's relied lasted only for a short period of time when the shame and fury took over. The brat should have finished him there on the spot when he had him! Instead, he had apparently thrown him back to his ship like he was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. It was already bad enough that he had lost to the brat but now he had also been ridiculed by him.

The door leading to the deck creaked open and Crocodile rushed on his feet.

"Good morning," Brynja greeted and Crocodile tried acting like nothing was out of the ordinary and muttered a response while mentally grumbling from the fresh bruises. One of the said spots started hurting twice as bad when the female pirate smacked Crocodile's upper arm with force.

"Geez!" Crocodile complained and rubbed the hurt area. That wasn't a friendly nudge.

Brynja narrowed her eyes and pouted:

"That's for not waking me up."

Crocodile shrugged:

"I didn't feel sleepy so I never had the need to."

"Huh," the woman said narrowing her eyes and asked:

"Well, did anything happen?"

The raven-haired forcefully removed anger from his voice:

"No, it was a calm night."

The woman stared at him silently but finally stopped and hopped on the railing to have a seat.

"Ouch!" she yelled and bounced back down pointing at the spot guilty on giving her a blister.

"Look at this!"

The railing had a part that all too clearly hadn't been sanded, explaining the rough wooden shreds. But not just on that spot…Crocodile paced beside the railing studying it, hastily turning around after a few meters and was visibly annoyed:

"Didn't I specifically send you ahead to make sure that the ship is in order?"

"I'm not a carpenter!" the appalled brunette defended right away.

"Carpenter or not, what about the floors with the nails sticking up? Or the storage room's walls with gaping holes in them? Too much asked that you'd spot those?"

The female pirate grimaced.

Crocodile crossed his arms and mocked:

"You really are a dimwit."

Brynja narrowed her eyes and pointed at the younger pirate but instead of bickering further tightened her lips together and stomped past him mumbling:

"Don't forget to disinfect your wound!"

Crocodile lowered his head to the left and messed his hair in frustration.

* * *

The ship reached its destination after a few hours and the pirates went by the large window in the kitchen to gaze at the island. The landscape was overwhelmed by colossal pine trees that stretched in stupendous heights. Brynja inhaled slowly in awe:

"Wow, just…wow."

"These must be the tallest trees I've seen in Grandline," the male pirate thought impressed.

"Cool, huh?" Brynja smiled widely. Crocodile was glad upon noticing that the tension between them had been cleared out.

The man straightened up and made his way to the den den mushi on the wall:

"Let's make Gazkai a call."

Crocodile dialed the number and spoke when the phone was picked up:

"Gazkai? We made it to the coast —"

The fast-paced voice on the other end of the line cut him short:

"Gimme a moment! — So, where you at?"

Crocodile started recalling some landmarks in his mind but the other man had already continued babbling on:

"Oh, right! Of course you are _there_! Moment, please."

Brynja brought her index finger to her lower lip while chuckling in amusement. Crocodile tapped impatiently his other arm.

"Yup! There you are! The ship's so tiny! Couldn't you have gotten a bigger one?"

This time the pause was long enough for Crocodile to actually answer:

"Your part of the investment was not much."

"Yup, well, that Devil fruit was a mistake."

A sigh full of regret was carried through the phone line.

"Are you by the Fountain Lady?"

"Oh, about that. Something turned up. But hey, if you continue forward an hour or so, there's gonna be a real nice looking area. Fresh air and all that. You two could take a stroll through it to the city. Surely by then I'd have made it to our meeting place."

Crocodile changed his gaze from the phone to the brunette. He was about to scold Gazkai and tell him to get a grip of himself but when he saw Brynja's face beaming with excitement he changed his mind.

"We'll see you later then."

* * *

The alternative route turned out to be worth the extra miles. Despite his earlier attitude, Crocodile found himself soon relaxing in the serene forest. The forest around them was filled with different shades of brown in the pines and the grass as well as the flora. Only the leaf trees stood out from the rest of the vegetation with their red shade. Few were even golden but they were harder to spot due to their small size. Crocodile's enjoyment of the environment was nothing compared to his partner. The brunette downright swirled around the trees and Crocodile had to rush her. Otherwise she would have ended up spending the whole day studying every single little detail in the forest. If Brynja collected ingredients for her teas though, Crocodile would wait patiently.

At one point she discovered underneath a rotten trunk mushrooms that let out a high-pitched fart sound. The woman snorted sharply through her nose, grinning like a small kid when she presented the plant in action to Crocodile who laughed in surprise.

Both of the pirates were stunned by how big the pine cones were. Even though they had seen them earlier from their ship, the size was easier to grasp when the cones were on the ground right before them. Crocodile took a hold of one, weighing it. The lightness marveled him but he was more fascinated by how the scales formed into a perfect spiral. The man snatched one in his bag to later use as a decoration when Brynja whispered next to him:

"There's a crowd blocking the road right where we're headed."

Crocodile could also see the men who were gathering together and giving them short but sinister looks. To him they were plainly acting it big.

"Let's get this over with."

* * *

"Hello there, welcome to the Green city," the most stout one nodded to the pirates shifting his braided brows.

Someone in the crowd whistled shamelessly and Brynja resisted the urge to eye-roll.

"You want us to pay some kind of a sum for passing here, right?"

It was not a question. Crocodile outright made it clear that they knew what the group of bandits had in mind.

"You really think us to be that lowly? No, no, we are decent men, mate," the same guy said as if he was shocked by Crocodile's words.

The pirate narrowed his eyes and walked past when the nearest man blocked his way with his arm and spoke:

"We're just here to collect the cash you're dropping here."

Crocodile stared at the hand without saying a word, then directed his eyes at the bandit.

"Guess there's no other choice than to give them what they want. Or what do you think?"

"I guess you're right."

Crocodile tapped the bag on his right side a couple of times.

"Oh right, on the other side."

The bandit laughed mockingly until he blinked his eyes and was about to mention:

"Hey mate, you don't have any bag on the other side – "

The bandit lost air to speak when Crocodile pulled his sabre partly out of its sheath, hitting the man's stomach with the handle. The bandit folded over offering his back of the head as an easy target for Brynja's hammer kick.

The bandits quickly recovered from the shock of seeing one of their man down and leaped towards them with their weapons drawn. The male pirate was disappointed even though he hadn't had high expectations for the brawl to begin with. The bandits were easy to provoke and they practically did the job for him by attacking blindly, Crocodile then dodging to the side and letting the men either bump into each other or to the ground. The only one who almost got points for trying was the guy trying to ambush him from the stack of leaves behind him. Almost, because the man had clearly not understood the concept of a stealth attack, yelling as he had jumped out of his hide. To top it all, when he tried one of the most transparent traps he could come up with, every single one of the bandits remaining standing fell for it without suspecting a thing. Crocodile had lured them towards one of the trees and cut it down, making it fall over the bandits.

The men spat pine needles under the trunk pinning them. The male pirate sheathed his sword back and with leisure steps went to the bandits.

"None of you _used_ your weapon. Each and every one of you only waved them around us like clumsily dancing. Moreover, you had numbers but you did nothing to attempt to utilize it. There was no way you could have won."

The bandits' leader's jaw dropped but he shook his head and shouted:

"Shu – Shut up! No worries my men! We'll just get this stupid tree out of the way and show those cheeky bastards who's the boss around here! Push, all together – push!"

Despite their efforts, the trunk remained only moving an inch momentarily before the bandits gave up huffing loudly.

Brynja felt way too sorry for the poor bandits:

"I'll tell them at the town that there's some help needed over here."

The men yelled in unison:

"Eh!?"

The man with the long braided beard rose his hand quickly and yelped:

"Wait! If you tell them, we're gonna end up in jail!"

The person next to the braided man whacked him while snarling:

"You moron! Would you rather have us trapped like this?"

"B-but..."

"We can't get out of this fucking tree so we need the fucking help! It'll be easier to get out of the prison! We've done it before, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" All bandits recalled their latest prison break and started babbling with each other, some even bickering when their details were different.

"No, it was Ray who got us arrested, not Julian!"

"No! It definitely was Julian!"

"It was not!"

"You wanna piece of me!?"

"Bring it on, sucker!"

The men tried attacking each others despite of the tiny man between them.

Crocodile rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily.

_How many times have they got arrested? I've witnessed several lousy criminals but these guys take the cake._

Brynja gackled quietly before informing with a cough:

"Well, we are going now, guys. But I'll make sure someone gets here so don't worry."

In the next moment all of the robbers were in tears and rubbing both their eyes and noses running:

"You have a golden heart, miss!"

"Unlike you," the one at Crocodile's feet showed him his tongue. The raven-haired's forehead twitched but he smirked and started rubbing his shoe sole on the punk's nose.

Brynja grabbed the male pirate from his arm. She pulled causing Crocodile to slowly but surely drag away with his one leg wiggling in the air.

"Alright, enough's enough!"

The men called out after the pirates when they disappeared from the view towards the city:

"Bye miss! Take care!"

* * *

Crocodile's feet were killing him and the clumsy pavement was not helping. Brynja was having a hard time as well and after nearly falling down because of the fickle cobblestone, took her heels off. The female pirate had kept her word and sent the local fire brigade to the rescue after having a short small talk with them on their coffee break. All the buildings in the city from the simplest shack to the grandest hall market were painted with green in varying shades. That's why a black house drew their attention enough that they gave it a closer look. The building wasn't that strange, just a regular old detached house and in good shape too. Under its walls was plenty of dried black paint with green peeking beneath it. Next to the front door was a formal looking notification:

_'This construction is under the watch by the administration.'_

"What's up with that?" Crocodile wondered aloud but they gave up on solving the case with the mysterious house.

The day was turning into an evening by the time they reached the fountain and the man with a ruffled mohawk sitting by it alone. The short man shifted his purple hair but stopped when he noticed the pirate duo and happily walked over to them:

"Crocod – " The said man kneed Gazkai's jaw and growled:

"There was an ambush by this route you recommended us to take. Care to explain that?"

Gazkai patted his jaw gently and whined:

"Ambush? How could I have known? You okay then?"

"It never passed your simple mind to check the route?"

The purple-haired gave Crocodile a long blank stare and finally blinked.

"Not really."

Brynja rushed in between before Crocodile would let his fist talk, and kept the men at her arms' distance:

"Okay, okay. We're here now and it's been a long day so I'd appreciate it if we found a place to sit down," she tiredly said.

"Paz and Tamsyn are just close by at the Golden Broth if you want to get some food under your belly," Gazkai proposed.

"Good, sounds good," Brynja quickly agreed.

The place was just around the corner, below the street level. It was furnished with long wooden tables and benches. On the ceiling there were wide logs with detailed engraving. The walls were without windows but the space was warmly lit with various kinds of lamps. A delicious, hearty aroma was carried in the air from the cheerful tables and the kitchen. It all felt like stepping into a home you never knew you had.

"Gazkai!" A brawny man with freckles called out from one of the tables. The young, white-haired girl next to him waved at them hesitantly. They were already biting on the food boiling on a large pot.

The group of three joined them at the table. A grumpy waitress appeared handing out the menus to the new customers and rushed away after getting their orders.

Paz was the first to speak:

"I'm sorry for the delay. It was entirely my fault and I'm embarrassed," the man confessed looking Crocodile straight in the eyes. The male pirate now noticed he hadn't imagined the black eye Paz had.

Tamsyn was clearly upset from hearing this and cried out:

"Don't say that! You had to step up for that man, no one else was willing to do anything! **I** should have done something!"

"What exactly did happen?" Crocodile inquired.

"The man was beating on his wife," Paz said and clarified:

"Not in public of course. I overheard them at the market. I overheard **him** threatening and insulting her. The people were just looking away. Can you believe it? So I provoked the guy, poked him a little bit. It took a while 'cause, hey look at me, I'm a big pile of muscle walking around. But I managed to tick him off and - boom - he hits me! I straight out laugh at his face and tell him I'm going straight to the police. The guy goes nuts and instead of me, goes to his wife and starts throwing punches at her yelling how it's all her fault. So I had to knock him out and things got complicated."

Crocodile processed the story for a moment and commented:

"I'm not saying I disagree with you but I think there would have been a better solution. Still, you did the right thing."

Paz nodded proudly.

The waiter set their drinks to table. The food arrived shortly after in the form of bubbling, spicy broth and the separate assortment of sorted vegetables, meat and many, many mushrooms. The set was completed with small plates filled with syrup, intended as a dip sauce.

Tamsyn gulped down her beer and asked:

"Is the ship really as small as Gazkai said?"

"It's not small!" Crocodile and Brynja snarled simultaneously scaring the girl.

"It just needs some renovating but there is space," the male pirate stated as the brunette diverted her eyes away in embarrassment.

Tamsyn got excited upon hearing this and smiled widely:

"Let me have a look when we get there! You won't even recognize it once I get my hands on it!"

An image of the flamingo ship flashed through Crocodile's head causing him to nearly spit his food.

"As long as you'll go through the changes with me before making them," the raven-haired made clear as soon as his mouth was empty.

Gazkai had fallen asleep and was about to sink headfirst into his plate till Brynja lifted him by the shoulder.

The short man stirred up and pointed up with his index finger: "Hey, remember my talk about 'you might or might not pass by a black house on your way?"

"It stuck to mind for some reason," Brynja laughed and carefully dropped slices of beef in the pot.

"Well, you see, the locals have this grazy tradition that's been going on for decades. Supposedly, the whole island was once ravaged by these mean little termites that ate anything made out of wood. Except if the thing was green! So everyone grabbed their brushes and painted without a break until every single wooden object was green."

"So, the other towns in this island are also…green?" Crocodile asked.

"Yes they are! The young folk however thinks it's all bonkers and purposely paints their houses with a different color. A good example being that house you saw. They keep re-painting it: the owner in black and then the officials send someone to change it to green and the cycle just goes on and on."

Paz shook his head and grinned widely. He was about to sip his beer but then instead brought it over the table:

"A toast to that?" he smiled to them all.

The people around the table agreed and raised their drinks:

"A toast for fools!"

They clicked the glasses together laughing and drank it all down.

Crocodile smiled to himself, filled his glass and raised it in the air:

"To you, my crew."

The table was filled with smiles and everyone made sure their glasses were full to the rim. The drinks poured over when the group brought their glasses together with a clang and cheered:

"To our crew!"

* * *

**A/N: In case you were wondering, yes, Gazkai has the Giro Giro no Mi. **

**'Just below his chest' aka in the diaphragm. Unghh what a word... **

**Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)**


	7. In Exchange For The Clove Part 1

**A/N:There is a tarot reading part in this chapter. ECA and me actually had the cards so we did a reading and wrote the results up, laughing at some parts :D**

The waves thrust at the ship's hull for one more time before the storm wore off. The 3-year-old vessel and its passengers had passed one of the Grandline's trial. And well too, the construct showed no signs of damage worth mentioning despite having taken constant hits by the waves for a week and a half straight. The wind caressed the ship's flag as if apologizing for its rough treatment, spreading open the picture of a crocodile skull holding a human skull between its teeth.

Inside the ship in the captain's cabin a raven-haired man was curled up in the sheets, covered in sweat, turning in his sleep until —

_You kept the pistol._

Crocodile opened his eyes and steadied his breathing. He removed the blanket smothering him with its warmth but didn't change out of his night clothes. The nights were usually unbearable for him to sleep through without them. If he stirred up in the middle of the night, the cold was the reason. Not warmth.

The dream had been a nightmare, that much he was sure of. But the details had already run off, leaving him only with the words he had awoken because of. Was it a memory? No. Who was the person who had spoken? Not him but somebody else. Who?

Did it even matter?

Crocodile closed his eyes to shut his surroundings out, to return to where his mind had lead him and focused on the words.

_You kept the pistol._

No. There was no telling whom the voice had belonged to. The speaker had been…in ease as they had spoken to Crocodile. So why was it that he was left feeling he had been hunted to a corner in the dream?

The man collected the strands of hair tickling his face back to their place and straightened his posture. The hammock shifted when the pirate made his way to the wardrobe to change. He chose a simple white dress shirt, a light, dark grey coat and dark brown pants. Before dressing though, there were the obligatory garments. Crocodile took off his lined yukata to slip on the fabric that hid the features he did his best to ignore and rushed to the other parts of dressing to distract himself from the revolting images in his mind.

No, he had not kept the pistol.

The male pirate had now his first candidate as for the person in the dream but was sure it was not him either. He stared at the drawer where he had kept the weapon in. His first pistol had served him well despite the fact that he had neglected taking care of it when young and clueless. He had however, grown to the gun type and despite throwing it away a year ago, bought himself a similar one. It had nothing to do with sentimentality, it simply would have been stupid to switch to a completely different type when he was accustomed to this one.

A loud knock on the door interrupted the captain:

"Crocodile!"

_Gazkai._

"Come quickly, you have to come see this!" the navigator shouted through the door and without even waiting for the answer left.

_Land?_

He hoped so. The food stock was not becoming scarce but he was craving for all the fresh ingredients they had not been able to supply due to the long journey. Now that the weather had calmed down, they'd at least be able to get fish.

The male pirate unlocked his door and was about to take the stairs to the deck where there was laughter coming from. He made a short round to the kitchen and drank a glass of water as he heard a screech from above.

_Tamsyn. _

Crocodile placed the glass down once it was empty. The dream had left him with no appetite so he might as well see what all the ruckus was about.

Their young shipwright had done wonders to their ship from what it had been years ago. Crocodile gave great credit for her skills. Not many people were able to engineer a ship renovation from a scratch. And she had been thirteen at the time. The nails in the ship had been properly sank in the wood and covered with plug covers. The walls, every wooden surface inside were smooth after the sanding and varnishing. She had done the latter with a combination of flax oil and poison to fight against decaying. Besides all the practical improvements, Crocodile felt more in place in the ship once it had been painted and furnished according to his taste. Olive green walls with some prussian blue. Dark grey floors partly covered with expensive silk carpets the color of sepia. And of course there was the gold, adorning as suitable.

Crocodile got as far as four steps up the stairs when the door was suddenly opened from the other side. The white-haired girl was soaking wet and drops were collecting in the hem of her shirt. When the girl noticed Crocodile her embarassment grew even more.

"I have to go to change," Tamsyn mumbled as she passed Crocodile who nodded in slight irritation. Yes, the ship would not be as good, as cabable as it was today thanks to the girl. So why was it that the exact same person had to be the one guilty of leaving a mess behind wherever she was?

The captain opened the door to the deck and was welcomed by the sun rays, no more hidden by the storm clouds. The sails' white canvas stretched along with the gentle winds, as well as his flag. A group of three was standing by the railing and staring at the waters.

"Am I supposed to be seeing something?" Crocodile asked his crew members who now noticed his presence.

"A whale," Brynja announced smiling briefly, then focusing back to the search of the said creature.

"Appeared right next to the ship, that big fat fish! And Tamsyn was right at the exact spot where it showered all its water! Poor thing." Gazkai laughed.

The said girl returned to the deck wearing a tank top that revealed the ink feathers circling her upper arms.

"And now it's gone…Could have made fish soup out of it," Paz lamented earning an opposing yelp from Tamsyn.

"Smart creature," Crocodile smirked.

"It's gonna jump! It's gonna jump!" Gazkai yelled in excitement, the others ready to object until they saw that the man was circling his closed eyes, meaning he was using his abilities —

The massive sea mammal emerged several meters above the surface, leaving all the ship's occupants gasping for air. Their eyes were locked on to the animal and watched as it dove back in the waters, causing a torrent of high waves in its wake.

"Told you it's gonna jump!" Gazkai laughed boldly for a long time before Crocodile spoke:

"After all these years that you could have honed your abilities to their finest, telling ahead a whale's jump is your feat."

"But it was – beautiful," Tamsyn wanted to argue but quickly backed away.

Gazkai shrugged looking Crocodile straight in the eyes: "I don't need to train. I'm fine with seeing what I see."

Crocodile was quickly becoming enraged by Gazkai's arrogance and he was about to snap to the navigator when someone interrupted him.

"Knock it off, you two."

_Paz._

This was not the first time the man got on his way.

"I have no use for those who waste their talent," Crocodile turned to Paz.

The deck turned silent with Gazkai rolling his eyes, Tamsyn glancing around in worry, Brynja frowning and the two men glaring at each others when a seagull cried out.

_Land!_

"Gazkai!" Crocodile commanded his navigator to take a look, having no spyglass on him.

"At it, at it, let's see!" the man closed and circled his eyes, twitching his fingers.

A large smile appeared on his face as he informed them:

"Guys, get ready to land 'cause we're about to!"

* * *

"Want to hear what my cards have to tell you today?"

Crocodile had finished a light breakfast when the cook suggested the tarot cards. The young man frowned, but reasoned that they were one way to waste time he had on his hands before they'd arrive. He gestured for Paz to go ahead.

Paz moved the chair opposite to Crocodile and sat down.

He took the pack from his pocket and started shuffling the cards in his hands:

"Do you have any particular question you'd like to ask?"

"No."

"I'll do the cross spread then."

The cards were not a device of shedding on some kind of divine knowledge upon those who they were read to. At most they acted to remind the person of his past and goals. They were nothing different from the other forms of entertainment, amusing at the best when the cards started to contradict with each others.

Paz placed carefully the first five cards on the table on the shape of a cross and then the last, sixth one a little further from the others. He turned first the closest one to Crocodile.

It was Eight of wands.

_The past, effects._

"The past and how it affects your question..if you had one," Paz checked from his notebook, scratching his stub beard.

"I do remember the order for this spread. Just read the cards' meanings," Crocodile sighed.

"End of delay, traveling, moving from one place to another, communication, understanding of another and teamwork. Helpful companions. Good news are coming your way."

_End of miserable poverty._

The second card was turned, revealing an image of two cups.

_And then the obstacles._

Crocodile chuckled briefly. One of them was sitting right in front of him.

"The love and understanding between two persons, harmonious relationships and emotional satisfaction. Possible indication of opposites completing each others. In case the emotional relationship is not of the strong sort, this might be the mark of teamwork, friendship and the end of mutual competition."

Paz turned silent for a moment before admitting to Crocodile:

"I…do agree with you though."

Crocodile raised his brow.

"Gazkai doesn't train as much as he should," the man said.

"If at all," Crocodile grumbled.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe that he's one year older than me," Paz grimaced raising his brows to Crocodile who groaned in response.

_Benefiting factors. _

King of pentacles.

_Well, now this looks promising._

"Practical realist. A businessman, banker or master in possession of a remarkable wealth. Usually married. Extremely devious in all he engages in. Despite his wealth, does not enjoy pretence. A stable character with a slow temper," Paz's grin widened towards the end.

For Crocodile the description was dull in all its compatibility. Only the part mentioning about marriage managed to amuse him in all its absurdity. Crocodile was getting bored listening to these vague descriptions but he was halfway through and there were only three cards left.

_The near future. The distant future. The end result._

"Let's see what the crystal ball has to say," Crocodile scratched his neck and gestured for Paz to get on with it.

The moon.

For the first time during the reading the raven-haired frowned. Moon was not good. It was secrecy and shadows. A strike from behind when you least expect it.

Hiding.

Fears.

A reminder.

"Watch out, everything is not what it would seem to be. When you come upon deception, trust your intuition and let it guide you to safety. The road you have chosen to travel is hard and might scare you at times but keep moving forward. Vanquish all the doubts eating on you, everything will turn out well. This card is a sign of good fortune if it so happens that – " Paz nearly burst out laughing but restrained himself:

" – that you have a secret love affair."

Crocodile snorted but grinned: "After all those warnings I'd get rid of any shady lovers."

Paz was now outright laughing.

"Well, what will happen after your secret lover is taken care of…"

The next card turned out to be another major arcana card, this time The wheel of fortune.

"A turn for the better. The result of both your actions and faith cast upon you. A closure for your troubles and tremendous strokes of luck. Good riddance with that femme fatale, huh?"

The final card was yet again a major card:

The sun.

"And here I was, waiting for The death. Would have made perfect sense," the young man smirked.

The cook was taken aback but then chuckled shaking his head:

"No such luck. You're getting fame, prosperity, happiness, joy and accomplishments instead. Take it or leave it. Delighted reunions and – ah, your lover is back! – a happy life with your loved one. Or maybe it's a new one? Pleasure, vitality and good health. Sunny places and possibly summer. Hmm, you'll end up on a Summer island? Perhaps our destination?"

Crocodile smiled briefly but not from images of sunny beaches and palm trees and definitely not of any kind of lovers. No, this was a reminder of a good sort.

Of his goals.

* * *

It was nearly midday when the ship approached the large island covered in a thick blanket of palm and leaf trees. The lush green had taken over the flat volcano but left the coastline for the sand. Meter by meter, the ocean floor was becoming more detectable as the water turned more and more clear, presenting the dunes underneath. The crew, apart from Brynja who opted to leave behind and take care of ship, switched to a smaller boat to reach the beach.

Crocodile felt something cracking under his shoe sole as he got out from the boat. The waves rolled back and forth a collection of seashells, all of which had been in pieces long before their arrival. Apart from the crashing waves, the only sound around was the seagulls and a large turtle munching on some insect.

"Take a look," Crocodile said to Gazkai after the boat was secured with a rope to the trees.

Gazkai made a pout from being put to work so soon but used his Devil Fruit ability.

Crocodile waited impatiently, staring at the turtle near them.

_A land turtle._

Not just that.

_A fat land turtle._

"Huh, I don't see anyone. The trees are really blocking my view. That or the villages must be far from here. This is a big island after all. Or I don't know, I am pretty exhausted to be honest," the purple-haired pondered aloud.

He was expecting Crocodile to start another one of his rants about how the Giro Giro no Mi was wasted on him but instead his captain took out his sabre and placed the blade on the turtle's neck:

"Prepare a meal out of this turtle."

Paz grimaced. The task of skinning and dismembering the animal would be a tedious one.

"Really?"

The raven-haired raised his sword for the cut.

"Yes. Now."

* * *

The meat was starting to be ready after two hours. The crew sat by the campfire they had set to the beach. Tamsyn grabbed a set of wooden mugs from her backpack, sliding them out and handing them out when she was startled by a rustle behind her. A man appeared from a pile of leaves, rose to his feet and walked to them yawning his mouth wide open. The pirate group stared at the stranger who rubbed his eyes, sniffed and finally broke the awkward silence:

"Oh, that smells delicious!"

"Care to taste? It's turtle," Gazkai smiled proudly as if he had been the one who had made the dish.

"Turtle, huh…" The man stroke his chin in thought until his eyes went wide open:

"Turtle?!"

"Turtle," Paz confirmed.

Crocodile took a bite before smirking to the man:

"Something the matter?"

The man broke down and babbled on and on about how he should have kept better watch, how everyone would be disappointed with him now that the chief's turtle was gone and it was all because of him.

"What should I do?" The man buried his face into his hands.

Crocodile was disgusted at the sight but offered a solution to the man:

"Take us to him. I'm sure he'll know what to do."

The raven-haired barely hold in the laughter bursting inside of him when the man gladly agreed.

**A/N: In the beginning you might or might not have noticed that I made a reference to another fan fic writer's DoflaDile work. I left it pretty vague so I'm not sure if you're able to spot it. I was way too tempted to do this kind of 'vision from another reality' -scene after seeing Cloud Atlas's scene where Tom Hanks has a vision in his dream. The next chapter shouldn't take long, I'll probably write it ready this month. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. In Exchange For The Clove Part 2

**A/N: Many thanks for my friend ECA who helped me with this chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy~**

The man lead them to a barely visible, narrow trail in the jungle. Small birds quacked, chirped and sang on the further branches. The bushes' leaves hanged above the route on eye-level and Crocodile had to constantly push them from his way. Bright colors of the flowers around them didn't drew just pollinators but also attention from the pirates, particularly from the shipwright.

Gradually there were more and more houses constructed from pieces of volcanic rock. The walls were decorated with vines so completely that only the doors and windows were visible. The simple trodden road they traveled on widened and gained a pavement on it with a flower bed in the middle. When they had arrived to the town's center the colorful plants seemed to be in every form around them. Whether as buds in the tea the people were gulping down or as a necklace on men. Tamsyn bought one for a fair price but threw it quickly away when a crowd of kids pointed it, laughing at her. Gazkai bargained with a café owner until the man sold him a selection of tea buds for half of the price. The rest of the crew restrained themselves from laughing when they noticed that their navigator, so proud with himself, had paid twice the actual price.

"You guys really do love flowers," Paz raised his brows.

"Doesn't everyone?" the man guiding them only shrugged.

"Not this much," Crocodile snorted. He never admitted to anyone in his crew that there was one particular attribute he relished about in the town: It's strong scent and how it changed depending on the area.

"Hey, you never told us why that turtle was such a big deal. Gotta say, didn't even taste all that good," Gazkai asked making their guide pout miserably.

"It was our chief's. And honestly, there's something wrong with your taste buds! Nothing beats a tenderly cooked turtle."

Gazkai grimaced in disagreement but shook his head:

"Just get a new one then!"

"There aren't that many on this island. Hell, could be that the one you ate was the last one. And chief had been saving it for a few years too."

Crocodile laughed from hearing this.

"You've just been gobbling them down, never thinking that they'd become extinct if you kept on doing so? Your chief's either depressed to have such morons to look after or he's the same as you, in which case I pity you lot."

The guide stared at Crocodile in offense.

"We m-may have made some mistakes in the Rose village but we've pulled through! Hey!"

The man yelped when Crocodile dismissed his defense completely and walked to a tall flower bush surrounding a large area. He backed a few steps to get a better view.

"The palace is there, right?" Crocodile nodded towards the bush. It would have been easy to have Gazkai check if needed.

"Yes, but do be careful. If you touch the flowers you get poisoned. They're harmless only in one specific part," the man warned though he was glad of the defense. He waited for Crocodile to ask him about the entrance's whereabouts.

Crocodile however kept on studying the plants and the structure they formed. Otherwise it all looked exactly the same, except for one vertical, narrow part where the branches suddenly turned thin. He lowered his gaze to notice a two meter's portion of the bush having no roots underneath. The branches had only filled the space and when he pushed it, they cracked and let him through, much to the local's dismay who along with the rest of the pirates followed after.

With now being able to see the palace as he approached it, Crocodile wasn't even sure it could be called as one. The building had the usual pillars and towers and the relatively large entryway but other than that was quite modest. At least there were guards but they lowered their weapons down after the guide explained the situation quickly. Crocodile shook his head mentally.

"You do realize we are pirates?" he provoked as they walked through the long corridor inside. The stone walls were thick and the air turned chillier with every step.

"Better that than the marines."

Crocodile laughed at the bitter weigh the man placed on the last word.

"Maybe we aren't that different after all."

The man didn't respond but knocked on a door.

"He's in there, right? Your chief I mean," Paz asked.

The answer came in the form of a man opening the door for them. They entered a room where a man with round glasses was pacing back and forth restlessly, only stopping upon noting their presence. After glancing through them all he relaxed notably, even smiled a bit to them.

That was, until the man that had guided the pirates to his place explained why they were here.

"They did what?"

"A mistake," Crocodile shrugged lazily.

"You — I, you.."

The chief removed his glasses and put them aside, sliding his hands over his eyes.

"I fed that turtle for 3 years!"

Crocodile started laughing:

"Actually, I couldn't care less about your shitty turtle. All I want is your treasure."

"The treasure?" The chief's shoulders along with his whole position was tense again.

"Yes. The one Gold Roger took," Crocodile raised his brows.

"Well, he took it. Didn't he? You said it yoursef! Look, you can't just go and —"

The pirate interrupted him, a large smile devoid of good intentions appearing on his face:

"Except that you still have it, am I right?"

The chief's jaw dropped.

"I…how?!"

Crocodile chuckled smugly.

"It seems my suspicions on the rumours of Gold Roger taking the gems of Flower crown were right. The date of the event was all too convenient to be plausible. Possible yes but highly unlikely. The only thing really puzzling me is how I'm the only one who's figured it out. Not that I'd complain or anything."

The chief was in a shock for while, then shook his head in gloom:

"Like it matters. You won't be able to get it anyway."

"How come?" Gazkai asked in wonder.

The chief retrieved his glasses, corrected them up his nose bridge before telling the pirates how his village's treasure had been lost forever. And even worse, it had been their own fault.

* * *

_The Flower crown had always been exceptional for its many flowers that flourished around the volcano. The colorful plants brought great joy with their beauty to the two villages, Rose and Violet. When their value as ingredients for medicine, spices and perfumes was recognised by the outside world, they brought prosperity as well. Though the towns kept their incomes divided, they developed and nurtured the plants together. They paid special effort to their favorite, the clove that impressed even the tenryuubitos with its scent._

_Simply put, the plant was valuable. And for the Flower crown islanders that had all the resources they needed even without trade, the expectations for the merchandise in exchange for the clove were high. Money was something that quickly failed to impress them, began to bore them. There was something far more interesting. Gems. _

_The shiny, heavy minerals that resembled the flowers they were so proud of. _

_Soon, it was self-evident for every single merchant who steered their course towards Flower crown in hopes of buying clove to take their finest stones with them. Which specifically, depended on the season and the rumors spread among the merchants: _

_"Grab those diamonds, they're building a church!"_

_"Take all the emeralds you can! I heard they're gonna celebrate children's day soon!"_

_The rumors spread indeed. Farther and farther. All the way to the government that also wanted their part in the trade. After so many years of the marines protecting the island and its resources from the pirate ambushes, it was only fair they'd get something in return. And they were polite enough to announce their demands beforehand:_

_All the riches Flower crown had exchanged for the clove to this date._

_The islanders were outraged! The government had no right over their treasure! But, going against the government would only result in a defeat. At least in a combat it would._

_Both of the villages' chiefs ordered every single piece of jewelry to be collected and gathered to chests. The two large chests were then hidden, away from the island to an atoll only they knew the location of._

_When the marines showed up, Violet's chief lied:_

_"The pirates took the treasure!"_

_"Pirates?" _

_"Yes!"_

_On the spur of the moment Rose's chief added, barely holding in the snicker:_

_"The devil himself! Gold Roger!" _

_The marines were furious and positive that the islanders were not telling the truth. They immediately spread out to search the island, intentionally either crushing the delicate flowers under their feet or cutting them down. The islanders protested against the damage the marines were making but their cries went to deaf ears. Only after having searched every inch of the island, the marines left._

_As soon as the horizon was clear of the intruders, the islanders celebrated and congratulated themselves for their cunning and set off to the atoll to retrieve their treasure._

_Except that their jewels had a new owner, as they discovered when they started digging up the chests._

_A giant crab attacked them. The monster had claimed the atoll along with its treasures to itself. The islanders fought but were forced to retreat empty-handed. The towns' chiefs blamed each others for their loss and their years' of co-operation came to an end._

_Months went by with the island's flowers recovering when one day a pirate ship appeared in the horizon._

_The Roger Pirates._

_Rose's chief trembled in fear when he was informed of the pirates' arrival. It had been his big mouth that had led them into this situation. He ordered his men with him to the coast to see what the outlaws wanted. _

_The chief and his men stood in a row and stared in cold sweat as the pirates lowered down a boat to the large ship's side._

_"What do you want?" the chief tried to sound demanding rather than scared but failed miserably._

_Gol. D. Roger took a few steps at the beach, gazing around the scenery before answering with a wide smirk on his face:_

_"My firstmate told me an interesting story," Roger gestured towards Rayleigh carrying the boat towards the trees before continuing: _

_"A story in which I've stolen a treasure from the Flower crown island."_

_The chief couldn't take it anymore but kneeled down and bowed:_

_"I'm sorry! It was only an emergency lie! Don't destroy our island, please!"_

_Gol. D. Roger broke into a loud, heartfelt laughter that echoed far._

_"Quite the nerve you had! But I would like to see the treasure you were so desperate to protect."_

_The chief didn't have a change to respond when the old woman with a hook nose from the pirate group commanded him:_

_"Hey, come over here!"_

_The chief hesitated but obeyed, afraid of what she'd do to him otherwise._

_"Look over there and tell me how many palm trees you see, boy," she pointed at a group of palm trees in the distance. _

_"Huh? Uh, four?"_

_"So far so good. And how many of them have coconuts?"_

_The chief was way too dumbfounded to question the fact that he was talking about palm trees with one of the Roger pirates. _

_"All of them..?" he answered unsurely._

_The woman grinned and patted the chief on the shoulder a few times:_

_"Not completely hopeless. But if you want your headaches to stop, you need to get your vision properly checked."_

_Rayleigh laughed:_

_"Word of advice: don't consult her on that. It will cost you."_

_"Oh, but he already does owe me Rayleigh. And your bebt just increased to 30 00 000 beli for that remark. My prices are only fair when taking my skills into account."_

_Rayleigh made some incomprehensible sounds while Roger was just amused._

_"So, where is the treasure?"_

* * *

"Yeah, where is it? Or did he take it?" Paz asked. He pulled out a paper scroll from his pack and made a rough sketch of the island with two dots presenting the villages. He added another circle with an x mark to represent the atoll and its treasure.

"Meaning he defeated the monster?" Tamsyn asked in awe.

"He didn't have to fight it! Believe me, he would have loved to take a match with that monster but it fled as soon as it saw him. We got to dug up the treasure chest and took it back to our village."

"But Roger took it?" Tamsyn frowned.

Paz made an addition next to the x mark.

"Weren't there two of them? Yours and the other village's?"

Another x mark.

"Yes. We rescued only our treasure but I gave it to the other chief and his village. It…only felt right. He gave me the turtle in return."

"Huh!?"

"There were only a few of them left at the time —"

"No! Roger! He **didn't** take the treasure?" Gazkai insisted on behalf of them all.

"No, only some jewels. His doctor took way more –"

"So the atoll still has one treasure left?" Tamsyn asked.

"Yeah. But the damn crab returned right after the Roger pirates left and is now guarding it again! Should have saved both of the chests."

Crocodile snorted and shook his head:

"You could have easily taken it. The solution's been there for you several times. Think. The creature's a crab. It has a tough shell but it has to shed it away to grow a new one every once in a while. Providing the perfect time to strike while it's vulnerable."

The chief's jaw dropped but his mood quickly brightened up from the new information.

"We're gonna get our treasure back! Just have to wait 'till —"

"No," Crocodile interrupted him.

"You'll lead my crew to the treasure today and I'll take care of the creature. As for my reward, I'll be taking what I see fit and I wont be hearing any complaints. I'm saving you some precious time after all. Who knows, maybe the next visitors coming for the treasure won't be as kind on their terms as I am."

Crocodile practically hummed.

* * *

"I said I'll only be needing one of you as an escort."

Crocodile complained as he turned to look behind him. The raft carrying him along with his crew was followed by a dozen ones, crammed with the lively islanders.

"Not half of the town," he frowned at the view.

Tamsyn on the other hand smiled widely.

"It's so amazing to see so many of you decided to come along!"

Paz raised his other brow.

"Surely not all of you needed to come with us..?"

One of the islanders waved her hand belittelingly:

"It's nothing really! We'll always be glad to give a hand to pirates!"

The old lady was distracted by a shout from the crowd:

"Sanfo, how much were you betting again?"

"6000 no wait — 7000 in favor of the crab!"

"What? That's harsh! Aren't any of you guys putting your money on us?" Gazkai groaned.

"That reminds me…" Paz coughed and rubbed together his thumb and index finger.

Gazkai cursed but produced a bill from his pocket.

"This is only 8000 beli!" Paz protested to Gazkai who immediately defended:

"But Gold Roger _did _take some of the treasure!"

Paz crossed his arms.

"Not this treasure!"

"If you two want to keep on with your argument instead of coming up with a strategy, be my guest."

Gazkai and Paz stopped and immediately turned serious upon Crocodile's remark. The captain rose to his feet and turned to his crew, gesturing for Paz to hand him a paper and pencil.

"The atoll consists of coral and sand in the form of an ring. The water's depth surrounded by it varies from inch to two."

"Looks like our anchor's gonna be just fine," Paz grinned to Gazkai making a face.

"There might be some deep spots though, and taking into account our navigator's height they don't have to be that much," Crocodile chuckled briefly.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Be the eyes, stay on the shore. You're all just jealous cause I'm the only Devil fruit user in this lot."

"As for our opponent…"

Reluctantly, Crocodile gave the paper back to Paz who in no time sketched a crab.

"Huh, funny hind limbs. Looks like paddles," Tamsyn pointed at the creature's legs.

"Thanks to them, it's fast in the water. But it cannot fully make use of them since the water's so shallow, especially since the crab's the size of a house. If, however, it moves to the deeper water outside the ring, _don't_ follow it."

Tamsyn gulped, regretting that she had made fun of the very thing that made the crab so dangerous.

Crocodile turned to Paz:

"Gazkai has a spear and Tamsyn and I have our swords. You really intend to take part in this fight bare-handed?"

"Those things would just be on my way."

"Have it your way," Crocodile didn't even bother to reason with him further. If the cook suffered for his stupid principles, so be it.

Everyone in the crew turned to look when loud shrieks erupted behind them. A couple of the rafts were in pieces and people who were not in the water rushed to rescue those who were. One more raft shattered in pieces when a claw pierced through it.

"Oh, come on! Not here! It's not fair!" Gazkai cursed and as he closed and circled his eyes muttered to the crew:

"You better not let me drown here!"

"Like hell we would!" Tamsyn unsheathed her two-handed sword and didn't notice how her words reassured the navigator.

"It's attacking those villagers," Gazkai gritted his teeth.

Paz snapped:

"We do know that! But what are we gonna do about it?"

Crocodile commanded, pointing in the opposite direction of the havoc:

"The atoll is right there. While the crab's busy with the villagers we'll have time to reach it."

"What?!" Tamsyn frowned.

"Our changes are much better there!" Crocodile yelled, counting how many of the rafts were still left. Yes, they'd provide them just enough time.

Paz was furious:

"We can't just leave them!"

"You want yourself killed, fine! But don't count me in!" Crocodile blasted back to him.

Paz glared at Crocodile before he jumped into the water.

"No!" Tamsyn cried out.

The captain looked into the water, to the rafts and then to the atoll.

_Shit! He can't defeat that thing alone! And once he realizes it, he won't be able to flee even if he wanted to._

Crocodile took a rope that he hastily stuffed into his pocket.

"Gazkai! Keep your eyes locked on to that crab! Tamsyn, you make sure to keep Gazkai away from the danger! Both of you need to get to that atoll as fast as you can! Once you're there, dig out the treasure! That'll get the creature's attention!"

Without even waiting for them to answer, he jumped into the water.

Crocodile swam furiously forward, cursing Paz with each stroke he made. To initiate in a fight underwater, where their opponent was in its element. The man was out of his mind!

It didn't take long for Crocodile to find the creature and he grunted mentally upon sizing it. The chief had described it to be the size of a house. The description was an understatement. The house the monster would be in in par with would be at least two stores!

_Just have to hope the rope will still be long enough._

Crocodile dodged barely on time when the creature suddenly drifted in high speed towards him, back in front. Crocodile turned to look in the direction it had came from to see Paz. The cook straightened up undoing his fist. He noticed Crocodile who pointed up.

The men gasped for air when they surfaced.

"Were you trying to kill me with that thing?!" Crocodile snarled as soon as he was able to talk.

"I didn't see you! I thought you guys were heading to the atoll!"

"They are! I'm just here to save your sorry ass!"

Paz was about to say something but shut his mouth and stared at Gazkai and Tamsyn's direction.

"Hey, I think Gazkai's shouting something."

Crocodile also focused on the words blurried by the distance and muttered as he made them out:

"Look…out…"

The men glimpsed in the water and just in time, rushed away from the claws that now pierced only thin air.

Paz gritted his teeth.

"I've got a few hits on the crab but they've done nothing!"

"Of course they haven't! Look, you distract it and I'll take care of those paddles!"

Crocodile showed him the rope he had on him and Paz nodded.

"I'll figure something out but right now that's the only thing that matters," Crocodile stressed before they both dove and swam in different directions. Paz in front of the creature taunting it and Crocodile behind.

Crocodile swam to the other paddle leg, unweaved his rope and tied it around the leg.

He made a knot when the crab started to turn towards him, the rope moving alongside with it.

_Like hell I'd let you do that!_

Crocodile took a good hold of the rope as near the leg as possible. He regretted his decision when the creature span him around in high speed. Crocodile managed to hold on until the motion stopped. Up and down, left and right, all the directions made no sense to Crocodile lost who barely kept himself from throwing up. The creature easily tossed him with an abrupt movement of the tied leg, making him lose the hold and drift away.

The crab rushed towards him and Crocodile unsheathed his sword, feeling horribly clumsy and slow. He was ready to block whatever attack was coming on his way when the crab slowed down and stopped meters away. Paz had caught it by the rope. The man was gesturing something about the rope to Crocodile.

_Shit! It's not long enough to tie the legs together._

Crocodile was trying to come up with another plan when he saw someone swimming towards them.

Tamsyn was waving a rope in her hands and they both went up to the surface get some oxygen.

"Gazkai said you'll be needing this," she handed the rope to Crocodile.

"Paz needs to get air. You have to switch with him, I'll handle the legs. Got it?" Crocodile explained, Tamsyn nodded and they dove back underwater.

With Tamsyn taking Paz's place, the cook hurried to the surface. Crocodile attempted tying the legs again. When doing so, he noticed that the rope was long. Long enough to even..?

Paz was swimming back down and Crocodile gestured for him to take his place while he surfaced. He now knew how to get the crab out of the water.

"Gazkai, turn back!" he yelled and was relieved to see that the man had heard him and turned the course.

Crocodile measured roughly the raft. One would not be enough, the crab would be too heavy with its shell and sink the raft. There were seven…no, eight rafts left. Nine their included. It would have to do. The next words he shouted were not just for Gazkai but also for the villagers.

"If you want to live, you better listen carefully!"

* * *

After giving out the instructions on what to do, Crocodile dove and took Tamsyn's place, letting her to get some air.

His next attempt on tying the paddle legs was successful. As if on cue, a group of ropes appeared on the surface and Crocodile took the one joining them and tied it tightly to the one on the crab's legs and gave a short pull.

The miserable crab resisted in vain when the rafts started to pull it towards the atoll. The villagers along with Gazkai were all rowing furiously and only stopped abruptly when they arrived next to the atoll. The crab's movement forward lasted longer and it flew to the middle of the atoll on its back.

When the creature flipped to its feet, four figures stood before it in the shallow water.

"If any of you guys as much as mentions swimming after this I'm going to kill you," Paz wheezed and cracked his knuckles.

"Uhm, was that thing supposed to be that big?" Tamsyn pointed at the crab with her sword.

"I told you to stay out of water," Crocodile reminded Gazkai and readied his sword.

"Yeah, you did. But after going through that horror of drowning any given minute…I'm really fucking pissed off right now," Gazkai smirked and tapped his spear with his index finger.

The whole group shared the same feeling.

When the crab charged towards them, the crew blocked the attack.

"Split up!"

The group divided with Gazkai in front of the crab. He was forced to dodge the relentless attacks that didn't let him any opening.

"The plan?" Paz yelled to Crocodile on the other side when he noticed the people appearing on the shore, carrying ropes with them. They didn't come closer than that.

"Still distracting but this time, we'll have to —"

Crocodile paused when he heard Gazkai screaming and turned to see him flying in the air until he landed in the water outside the atoll.

Tamsyn was about to rush to the rescue but Crocodile stopped her.

"Stay here! Let Paz get him!"

"But!" Tamsyn hesitated to obey.

"You have a sword, he doesn't! I need you so we can get rid of the claws!"

The girl agreed upon hearing the reasoning and Paz ran to save their navigator.

"What are the ropes for?" the girl asked. She tried slicing the creature from its side but only managed to scratch it. Crocodile aimed for the eyes but missed.

"For the legs! Get here, I need us both front!"

The girl dodged one of the said limbs trying to impale her and rushed next to Crocodile. The crab started backing away.

Crocodile snorted:

"Since we took its paddles away, it's going to gain speed another way."

"It's gonna…jump?" Tamsyn asked in disbelief.

"Ridicilous but yes. And pierce us while doing so."

"You mean like attack us both as it makes a leap? Simultaneously?" the girl clenched her teeth together.

"Yes. But it's also giving us a change to end this here and now and I'm taking it gladly," Crocodile smirked.

The crab stopped and started flexing the legs it still had free.

"All you have to do is dodge right next to the claw and push your sword to the joint connecting it to the torso."

"But what if I miss?" Tamsyn yelped and watched in horror as the crab flew off from the ground towards them.

"Don't!"

The pair took one single step. One more, and the distance would have been too great to reach the claw effectively. Tamsyn next to the claw on the left, and Crocodile to the right one. They raised up their swords and sank it through the soft joint all the way down to the ground. The crab squirmed but there was nothing it could do when the villagers rushed to tie its remainining limbs together.

Paz arrived to the scene carrying a coughing Gazkai on his shoulder. The chest was dug up and after confirming that the gems were still there the people hugged each others, some crying tears of joy. Paz covered his ears when one of villagers whistled loudly towards the Flower crown.

"You're sending a message that the treasure's been retrieved?" Crocodile asked the man who had whistled.

"Of course!"

Soon after a whistle came from the island.

"The response?" Crocodile inquired.

The man smiled widely:

"They're coming over here."

The pirate was confused.

"Here?"

"To celebrate!"

* * *

Even though not all of the town came to have a have a blast, the amount of people on the atoll tripled when the rafts arrived. Crocodile had submitted to the fact that they were not leaving back to the island until morning. He wasn't that much of a party person himself but did like the idea of getting some alcohol into his system. The people were soon busy preparing a dinner with the crab as the main dish. Some of the people started constructing, Tamsyn helping, a large grill on the shore. Others emptied their bags of fruits and started peeling and slicing them, Paz admiring their speed on the task. With the rest of the crowd left with nothing to do, Gazkai included, they started to dig around and found the crab's old shell. After someone's mention about it resembling like a huge frisbee, the people were throwing it in groups to each others, taking a break when the food was done.

A couple of the rafts acted as serving tables filled with mountains of grilled meat and rice along with slices of fresh fruits like pineapple, papaya and pomegranate. Flowers were set as a decoration here and there among the banquet. Crocodile helped himself with a little bit of everything including a bottle of palm wine.

Before he even realized, it had turned to a late evening, and then night. Some people were dancing, others performing a show with fire and some simply enjoyed the atmosphere and the view around them. Crocodile being the latter of the group.

Tamsyn found herself being the center of attention, surrounded by the women in awe of her tattoos. Some boys made quick glances at them whereas some women went as far as grabbing Tamsyn's arm and trailing their fingers along the ink lines, studying the work. The young shipwright was bombarded with questions from all directions:

"So lovely!"

"Did you take them all at once?"

"Don't be stupid! Of course she didn't!"

"Did you?"

"Ikth! These take time! Really, sometimes I wonder if your head's only for decoration…"

"Are you going to color them?"

Tamsyn shook her head.

"No…"

"Do you have any other tattoos?"

"Uh…"

"Maybe she has one on her back!"

None of women didn't notice how the girl froze. One of them circled behind Tamsyn and placed her finger in between her shoulder blades. She slid the finger towards the collar.

"Let's see, let's see!" the women cheered on.

The woman behind Tamsyn shrieked when Crocodile appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist twisting her arm. His voice was low and his brows creased.

"Did she give you the permission to touch her?"

The women stumbled away scared.

Tamsyn collected her breathing and was on the verge of tears when she thanked Crocodile.

The man snorted in disgust and simply answered before walking away from the girl:

"Grow a spine."

A woman with dark green hair approached Crocodile and smiled to him, narrowing her eyes:

"Have you ever tried fire dance?"

Crocodile was somewhat confused by the sudden question but admitted that he had not.

"Wanna try?"

The pirate had been staring in awe at the islanders' performance the whole night, watching how they formed with ease stunning, brief pictures of bright light against the blue darkness.

"Sure," he smirked.

The woman grinned and called her friend over:

"Lori!"

The woman's friend handed over to Crocodile her instrument, a staff with a long string attached to it, the tip covered with alcohol. She gave him a few instructions and lit the end of the string, letting her hold go of it when Crocodile nodded.

The hardest part was the beginning when he had to prevent the flame from dropping into the water before even getting started. But after some waving and testing around he got the hang of it. Soon he also was painting the air with the flame, first repeating a simple pattern. More and more of the islanders gathered closer to watch. They started clapping and stomping the ground loudly in the same rhytm, cheering him on. Crocodile moved on to much more complicated figures, changing them from one to another smoothly. The crowd ignited into wild applauds when he finished the performance.

"That was wonderful. Impressive for an outsider!" one of the men complimented the male pirate, handing a bottle of palm wine towards him but he showed that he already had one. The man was baffled for a moment but then snapped his fingers and fished out a cigar from his pocket. Crocodile took it and for a brief moment the men shared a wide smile with each others. The raven-haired lit the cigar and was pleasantly surprised. Sure, the alcohol gave a boost to the stuff but Crocodile could tell it was on a completely different level compared to all those ghastly, cheap tobaccos he used to have smoked now and then.

Paz also wanted to try the fire dance and removed his shirt theatrically, revealing his chest and the butterfly tattoos on it for everyone to see. The crowd was still cheering but there was a considerable amount of people whose eyes were fixed to the chest. That or trying to turn a blind eye towards it.

"I guess he doesn't know," the woman from before shook her head and chuckled.

Curiosity took over Crocodile and he had to ask the woman what this was all about. He highly doubted showing some skin was the reason when nearly all of the men were shirtless. And judging from how they had admired Tamsyn's tattoos earlier they were not the cause either.

The woman bend over and whispered to Crocodile's ear:

"I don't know about your hometown but here only the women tattoo themselves."

The woman collected her hair on her other shoulder to show Crocodile the tattoo of a hummingbird on her neck. The pirate paid little attention to it or the revealed skin in front of him, envisioning the look on Paz's face when he'd tell the islanders' opinion on his tattoos. Of course, he'd do it right after they leave. No spoiling the fun.

The woman furrowed upon noticing how little her features affected on Crocodile and rose to her feet. The man brought the bottle back to his lips.

_Nearly empty._

When he lowered the wine, he noticed that the woman hadn't walked away. Instead, she had only took some distance from him to dance. People whistled and the woman blew a kiss in the crowd. But it was obvious as to whom her next, craceful moves were directed to. Crocodile smirked and shifted to have a better seat. The music felt as if it turned louder, nearly to a level violent to the ears. The dancing changed too, bolder with every movement. The woman closed the distance and circled around Crocodile, teasing him with the view that was nearly there for him to see. She crouched in front of him and leaned much closer. The corners of her lips turning even more upwards as she took hold of Crocodile's shirt, as she started to open his buttons —

Crocodile smacked the hand away violently causing the woman's eyes to widen in a mix of disbelief and offense. The lips tightened downwards but quickly made their way back up. The woman took a good hold from Crocodile's hair and pushed his face into the water. Crocodile coughed when she let go and walked away, this time not feeling up to dancing anymore. She didn't get far though when the mortified young man sprinted to her and yanked her hair until the men came and separated Crocodile from her. They threatened, insulted and told him to get lost. The pirate spat and cursed them all but walked away ignoring Gazkai and Paz repeatedly telling him to sit down.

As he waded further and further away from the crowd and the lights he recalled something similar to this humiliating experience nearly ten years ago.

* * *

_The train let out a high-pitched, long whistle and departed creaking here and there. Some of the passengers looked at Crocodile with obvious dislike as he moved through the aisle in search for his seat. Yes, this time he actually had the luxury of an actual seat which was really something for a homeless kid like him. _

_As if he would have stayed with those pirates he had left Kupeat with! He could do better. Hell, it was going to be a million times better to be on your own than with that scum. He'd make a new start and if it was to be alone then so be it! As if he hadn't gotten used to it by now. _

_Crocodile wasn't however the only one trying to make his way up. The world around him was full of those attempting to survive from one day to another. Only few made it to the top. The boy learned fast the value of money due to having close to none. Without money a lot of things were hard. There was no guarantee of managing to get food the next day or finding a warm place to stay for the night. Without money a person had no rights and those above them determine the terms. _

_Crocodile started lifting one of his bags up to the shelf. The smuggle had been a success and once he'd be back he'd get get his reward. For the moment the 14-year old could take it easy and enjoy the ride. Maybe he would have never noticed the girl if she hadn't asked:_

_"You need help with those?"_

_Crocodile disregarded the thoughtful gesture of the stranger completely in his mind. What caught his interest was the person's voice and he looked at her again. The girl sitting next to his seat by the window was wearing a grey dress and fixed her blond hair back behind, her hands covered with lace. Was she wearing lipstick?_

_He tried to answer but upon finding himself unable of pronunciation simply shook his head. The young boy lifted his other bag up, desperately trying to come up with something to say:_

_"These are no problem for me. I've carried much heavier deliveries."_

_The smile on the girl's face was starting to fade quickly and she was about to turn her eyes back away from the boy__._

_"Several miles and the others just fell down," the raven-haired made no attempt at hiding the gloat from his voice as he sat down and smiled to the girl._

_The girl forced a short smile before nodding and turning her posture to the window._

_Didn't she believe her? Suddenly the boy was extremely self-conscious of the binder on him._

_A rustle from the girl's side caught Crocodile's attention. She had retrieved a photo from her pocket and without even thinking about it further, Crocodile leaned back on his seat to get a better view. The girl stared at the photo with the corners of her lips tugging upwards. In the photo there was a girl, about the same age as him. As hard as he tried, Crocodile found nothing interesting or special about the person in the picture. It was more like the girl grew uglier the longer he stared at her. Even though he knew nothing about her beside her looks, he just knew he hated her._

_"She looks horrible," the raven-haired stated, nearly pouting._

_The girl turned the picture in her hands away from Crocodile's sight and was quickly turning red._

_"As if you'd be the one to talk," she hissed with her voice nearly cracking. The boy would not have been surprised if she had started crying and thought if he should say something when the girl ordered:_

_"Move!"_

_He was taken aback from the sudden outburst but kept his cool, moving his legs out of the way as little as possible while still providing space in front of him. The blond girl ignored the silent protest and after abruptly retrieving her things, stomped to another wagon._

_Crocodile exhaled loudly, leaned himself forward trying to get rid of the tension in his body. Trying not to replay the scene and the girl over and over in his head._

* * *

Crocodile finally stopped walking and turned to glance at the crowd in the distance. He wasn't that clumsy little boy full of insecurities and fears tearing him apart anymore. Through all the trial and error he had become capable of making everyone around him see what wasn't there. What _should_ be there. Some would say he was leading people on.

Wrong!

The ugly form covering him would have done so. It was a curse he had carried with him ever since he had been born. However, he could get rid of it and replace it with what was right. He had came upon a precious piece of information of a man with the ability to fix his state. Up to this point he had delayed his decision but now he had made up his mind. He'd find the man.

Before doing so however, should he tell his crew? It wasn't like he owed them anything but —

It could make things easier. Or destroy everything.

But, it wasn't entirely impossible that they'd accept! It had happened before. More than once too.

_Brynja. _

Crocodile rubbed his closed eyes, laughed shortly and sighed tiredly. He should get back. Judging from the complete lack of lights, the party had already ended.

The people were sleeping either on the rafts or had searched themselves a spot on the atoll that was dry and soft. Crocodile was about to do the same when the chest caught his attention. He made his way to it slowly to prevent the water from making splashing sounds from his steps. He heaved the lid and gazed upon the valuable contents.

The moon might not have been the best source of light for inspecting the gems but enough to tell them apart from each others. Sapphires, amethysts and many more gems were revealed as Crocodile scooped through, letting them pass through his fingers.

One of the jewels was different from the others: it was old, from different age entirely. Crocodile picked up the ring to have a closer look. There was a single stone embedded into it. Sapphire perhaps? No…more like tanzanite. His fingers were too slim for the ring but it fit into his thumbs. For now he didn't wear it there but secured it into his pocket.

* * *

Most of the people walked sluggishly, cursing the sun for being too bright when they arrived back to the town. As they carried the chest through the streets Crocodile couldn't help noticing how surprisingly mild people's reactions to rejoining with their treasure was. It was as if their mood had even been better yesterday. Everywhere around him were whispers and faces filled with worry. Some even with anger.

When the pirates placed the chest in front of the chief, the man barely looked at it. There was no sign of triumph on his face. The newspaper rustled when the chief placed it next to his glasses. Crocodile narrowed his eyes to the paper, then to the chief who finally spoke. Crocodile made him immediately repeat the words, too absurd to be true.

"Gold Roger has been captured."


End file.
